Female doctor searches for cancer therapy from a space laboratory

As a child, Spanish girl Sara Garcia Alonso played with microscopes and looked at the stars. She never imagined she would end up doing cancer research for a national laboratory.

"We must invest in science"

Now at the age of 35, Sara Garcia Alonso graduated with a master's degree with honors in biotechnology from the University of León and then a doctorate in molecular biology from the Center for Cancer Research (University of Salamanca). . “I was drawn to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers early on because of the endless opportunities and applications they offer,” said Garcia. science because it brings many benefits.

Although always fascinated by space, becoming an astronaut was never a top priority for Garcia. By 2021, when the European Space Agency (ESA) recruited female candidates, she saw this as one of her options. At this time, she was working at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) in Madrid, leading drug discovery research for lung and pancreatic cancer. "I specialize in research on targeted therapies. If I am chosen to fly into space, I will find a way to develop precision medicine from a space laboratory," she said.

Garcia describes herself as someone who likes to experiment with things. She inherited this personality from her parents, who are businessmen. "When I asked about magnets, my mother bought me a book about them. When I wanted to do experiments, my father gave me a toy microscope and collected objects on the street to make samples." And when we went to the countryside, he took me to see the stars," Garcia said. Her parents taught Garcia to aim for what she truly loved and never pressured her to follow a particular career path.

When asked about her aspirations for this new phase of her career, Garcia’s scientific mindset is evident. She aims to conduct missions to the International Space Station (ISS), followed by a mission to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. She wants to conduct experiments that push the boundaries of what humans currently know, whether it’s biomedicine or the origins of the planet and the solar system.

The proportion of women studying STEM in Spain is lower than the global average

Globally, 53% of university degrees in STEM fields are held by women. However, in the European Union (EU), only 34% of graduates in these fields are female. In Spain, the average rate of women enrolled in STEM occupations is about 30%, of which STEM experts in this country account for only 16%.

"There are still few girls showing interest in science in particular and STEM fields in general," Garcia admitted. She believes this is due to a lack of female role models in STEM fields. Although people are increasingly aware of the importance of achieving gender equality in the field of science and technology for social progress, it takes more time to make changes.

Garcia suggests a number of measures to address this problem, including encouraging girls' interest in STEM subjects early, creating conditions for female scientists to succeed, become role models, and mentors, while eliminating gender inequality in the recruitment process and introducing flexible work policies to facilitate work-life balance for women.

"There are talented and successful women, but they do not appear in textbooks and in the media as much as men. Young women should not set limits for themselves, because all they need is effort and passion. If you truly believe in it, you can go very far if science is a job you love, I encourage you to pursue it, because it is an extremely rewarding and never boring career. bored".