I was driving back to Boston from a visit to my hometown in New Jersey when the radio in my bright yellow car started playing an interview on the difference between circadian rhythms in women and men.

It caught my attention as I’d had an exciting course as an undergraduate in circadian rhythms, the 24-hour internal clocks that keep time with our rotating planet.

I was about to graduate with a PhD in Genetics. I am the first in my family to ever do so, and one of the few even to hold a bachelor’s degree. A job search was in my near future and that radio interview stirred an interest in me that was lying dormant.

That reawakened interest led to the research I now do as an Instructor of Anesthesia at Mass General.  It was fitting that while driving back from my birthplace, I would remember a past interest and weave it into my future.

My current research is focused on the genetics of sleep and circadian rhythms—examining why poor sleep may run in families and how can we convert our knowledge into new ways to evaluate and treat people with sleep or circadian disorders.

My team is launching a new study on rare disorders of circadian rhythms, where a small percent of the population have shifted biological rhythms.

We seek to understand the genetic underpinnings of these rare disorders both to help the patient population and to learn more about the circadian misalignment we all experience when working shifts or traveling across time zones.

It is imperative to me that our new study be conducted with an eye towards inclusion. There are barriers to who can participate in research studies, which populations benefit from the findings, and the researchers who are at the table doing the work—we take seriously our charge to lower and eliminate those barriers when we can.

The thread of my personal story begins far outside of academia and I try hard to remember all the things I didn’t know when starting out. My family has run an auto body and engine repair shop and attended church every Sunday for my whole life.

The only person with a PhD I ever knew of before college was the father of a close friend. Without his one example I wouldn’t have known graduate school was even an option.

This is why I’ve recently started giving talks to high school students, even connecting with my former high school to share my story there as well.

I have fond memories of sitting in a desk in the science wing of my high school listening to my favorite chemistry teacher—he had a very dry sense of humor that was easy to miss and always treated students with respect.

He ran an independent research course where I got to conduct my own semester-long research project, where I encountered both failed research projects and late-night proposal writing for the first time. His level of faith in us as scientists and individuals made a lasting impact.

Mentors are woven throughout my whole journey. I turn to them often. Advice I’d give to other young aspiring women scientists is don’t be afraid to discard wisdom that doesn’t feel right for you. Everyone has their own journey and perspective and motives. As a woman, you will have to speak your truth louder.

Find trusted mentors and let them speak the hard truths to you—this is important as a woman specifically because not all spaces are safe or value you equally.

You can have mentors for specific parts of your life and research career. Ask people that have cultivated specific skills that stand out as their strengths.

Thank those ahead of you and often reach behind you. One important thing I’ve learned from circadian rhythms is we have an internal clock, but it is influenced by the world around us—so should we as scientists and humans learn from the world and give back as our time goes on.