Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Nina Miolane Of The Geometric Intelligence Lab On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience

Champion Diversity: A diverse team brings a wealth of perspectives and creativity. Fostering an inclusive environment isn’t just about fairness; it’s about enhancing innovation and decision-making in STEM and AI research. Our lab has over 50% women, which is unique in STEM. Individual talents can bring successes, but diverse teams can move mountains.

As a part of our series about “Lessons From Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Nina Miolane.

Nina Miolane, the visionary director of the Geometric Intelligence Lab and professor at UCSB, is a pioneer in artificial intelligence (AI) research. Her work uncovers the signatures of intelligence in both artificial and biological neural networks to provide next-generation AI models alongside groundbreaking neuroscience discoveries. Her lab targets the most pressing questions that AI has historically overlooked, starting with a study of women’s brains and its dramatic implications for women’s health.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My fascination for AI and neuroscience started during my PhD and postdoctoral research at Inria and Stanford. I used my background in mathematics from École Polytechnique and Imperial College London to develop a theory for creating digital twins of brains. A digital twin is a computational model or simulation that accurately represents the structure and function of a given human brain. Such digital twins are key to modern, AI-powered medicine as they significantly enhance diagnosis and prognosis of neurodegenerative diseases.

After alternating positions in industry, I was struck by how much financial incentives and leadership demographics dictate which problems are prioritized by AI research. I decided to establish an academic research lab at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), unconstrained by a need to generate financial return. My lab strives to create AI models designed to tackle vital questions that are the most likely to be forgotten by AI, either because they are less lucrative or because they affect populations that are underrepresented in AI leaderships. I became interested in rare diseases, in diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries, and diseases that differently or disproportionately affect minorities in STEM, for example women. Today, I am proud that our lab is established as a pioneer in cutting-edge AI research that targets urgent yet neglected questions and provides advances that truly serve the entire population.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

One of the most overlooked areas of AI research is the creation of methods that answer vital questions about women’s health. For example, why do hormonal contraceptives so dramatically increase depression risks, up to 130% in certain populations?

Clinical research has failed women for decades; its findings are mainly based on data generated in males, even for disorders that are more prevalent in women — who are twice the risk of major depressive disorder and who represent 70% of Alzheimer’s patients. Today, we know almost nothing about how diseases and treatments really affect women. In 2001, 80% of drugs pulled from the market by the FDA had more side effects in women. More than twenty years have passed, and the problem has not improved. This year, the most recently approved Alzheimer’s drug shows positive effects for 43% of men, but only 12% of women.

But what if we could right the wrong? What if we had a medical assistant who could ingest the world’s largest database on women’s health, analyze it in a blink of an eye, and make up for lost time? One of our most interesting recent projects is to give AI the power to be this super medical assistant. Our lab builds AI-powered digital twins of women’s brains, during the menstrual cycle — with or without hormonal contraceptive — pregnancy, and menopause. We leverage the power of AI to make groundbreaking, long overdue discoveries in women’s brain health.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Love this question, happy to share! I was teaching my statistics class for the first time at Stanford. One of my friends told me that Halloween was a very important tradition and that I should find a costume. I spent several days exploring stores in San Francisco and eventually decided to rent a full-body, and rather furry, black gorilla outfit. I put a hat on it, and those familiar with AI research will recognize my final costume as “a gorilla estimator”. On Halloween day, I dress up and come to campus early. I can’t see anything with the gorilla mask, and I almost get into several accidents with students on bikes. Arriving at my classroom, I take a deep breath, and enter confidently with my best gorilla gate. Too early, there’s a midterm exam happening there: stressed students fighting through AI exercises get barely distracted by the sight of a gorilla walking into their room. Finally, my class comes. Only then do I realize that nobody is dressed up, I’m the only one wearing a costume. Additionally, giving a lecture while wearing the mask is quite difficult, making me resemble a gorilla having an asthma attack. Finally, I invite the students to guess what my costume is, and then I remove my mask for the remainder of the lecture. The lesson I learned is to always verify your information thoroughly before heading to work in a gorilla outfit.

What do you think makes at UCSB stand out? Can you share a story?

As the director of the Geometric Intelligence Lab at UCSB, my job is to reveal the signatures of intelligence in artificial and biological brains and develop cutting-edge AI models that answer urgent yet neglected neuroscience questions.

AI is radically and quickly transforming our world. Develop these technologies is fascinating, yet the imperative to make sure our advances help everyone cannot be overstated. Most AI companies are controlled by individuals who do not represent the entire population. The 16 founding members of Elon Musk’s XAI team are men. Until March 2024, OpenAI’s board of directors was 100% white men. If AI leads us towards “the best world ever” as Sam Altman (OpenAI) said, we must ask: for whom is this world really “the best”? Our lab targets the most urgent questions that seem likely to be overlooked by AI — with the objective of benefiting large, diverse, and inclusive populations.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

So many exciting projects! For example, we develop novel AI techniques that do not require huge datasets or exorbitant computing power to perform incredibly well. Indeed, while the development of ChatGPT may have benefited from the vast data available on the internet, datasets in many fields are comparatively tiny. In the medical field, and in women’s health in particular, datasets are even tinier. Until 1993, women were mostly absent from clinical trials; today, they remain underrepresented. This lack of data severely limits the training of existing AI models. For AI to have a real and positive impact in the world, it must be accessible to those who do not have giant datasets nor millions of dollars to spend in high-performance computing. Our lab seeks to change the trend.

Therefore, together with my colleagues, Professors Haewon Jeong and Yao Qin, we launched Real AI with the goal to turn our AI research into tangible solutions with significant real-world impact. This motivation is also behind my co-founding of the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative under the leadership of Professor Emily Jacobs. In this initiative, I share leadership of the AI center with Professor Amy Kuceyeski, focusing on developing AI to research women’s health. Through our combined efforts in these initiatives, we have established an AI powerhouse entity committed to have real, positive impact in the world.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? What specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?

I am not satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM, and especially their underrepresentation. In our department, there is only 15% of women among graduate students. This is alarming.

Science needs women. The lack of women scientists has contributed to immense gaps, for example the major lack of international knowledge on women’s health. Among the 50,000 research papers published in neuroimaging since the 1990s, only 0.5% study women’s health. In fact, the scientific community publishes more papers on how to turn erectile dysfunction drugs into candy than on all issues concerning the female brain. Why does the birth control pill trigger depressive episodes? What is the effect of pregnancy on memory? Why does menopause cause sleep disorders? We have landed on the moon, but we cannot answer these questions. Why? I think that the fact that over 80% of AI and neuroscience professors are men is not completely unrelated.

We need to communicate about these issues, tell young girls how much science — and for example the health of half of the world’s population — needs them. We need to bridge the gender gap: make STEM inclusive, both in terms of who develops the methods and who benefits from their breakthroughs.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM or Tech that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts? What would you suggest to address this?

One of the biggest challenges is the lack of role models for the younger generations. In fiction and the media, scientists and engineers are generally male. As the saying goes “I cannot be what I cannot see”. I met my first female role model only during my PhD. Her name is Susan Holmes, Professor at Stanford, and she co-supervised my PhD and advised my postdoc. Her achievements and daily life as a researcher in California inspired me. Only then did I realize my desire to dedicate my life to sciences. I encourage women students who are uncertain about embarking on a STEM career to connect with researchers. We are all passionate about our work because there is good reason to be. You’ll see how much a researcher’s passion can be contagious.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a woman in STEM or Tech. Can you explain what you mean?

The myth that women’s brains aren’t made for STEM is still dangerously common. It is, of course, completely false. In fact, STEM pioneers were women: we owe the field to them. Ada Lovelace designed the first algorithm designed to be executed by a computer. Grace Hopper developed the first compiler for a programming language. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, women were the primary programmers. Only in the 60s, as the field transitioned into contemporary software development, did the predominance of women begin to wane.

What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in STEM or Tech” and why?

1. Embrace Resilience: Perseverance is key. Each setback is an opportunity to grow stronger. For example, my most cited research paper was rejected so many times during the peer-review process that grants publication in scientific journals. I spent years improving it, polishing it and resubmitting it — hoping to get published. The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity, but the optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty. I believe that if you stay optimistic, positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.
2. Champion Diversity: A diverse team brings a wealth of perspectives and creativity. Fostering an inclusive environment isn’t just about fairness; it’s about enhancing innovation and decision-making in STEM and AI research. Our lab has over 50% women, which is unique in STEM. Individual talents can bring successes, but diverse teams can move mountains.
3. Cultivate a Learning Mindset: In the rapidly evolving STEM world, continuous learning is vital. Every week, more than 1000 research papers in AI and machine learning are posted on ArXiv, the open-access archive for scholarly articles. It is crucial to stay updated with the latest advancements and to encourage our teams to do the same. I seek to promote an atmosphere of knowledge-sharing and adaptability in our lab.
4. Mentorship Matters: Seek mentors and become one. The guidance from experienced individuals can be invaluable and paying it forward by mentoring others will help train the next generation of STEM researchers. Also, mentors do not have to be more senior that you. For example, I refer to my PhD students as my “Professorship advisors.” Their insights into my scientific and managerial abilities are extraordinarily valuable to enhance both the science and the culture of our research lab. I will never stop learning from them.
5. Lead by example: Demonstrate the qualities you value in others — kindness, optimism, curiosity, and collaboration. This sets the tone for your team, influencing the culture and values of your workplace for years to come. For example, our lab values curiosity and cultivates a tradition with which we start any lab meeting. The researcher leading the meeting always starts the session with a 10-minute talk on absolutely anything they want. We have learned a great deal in sailing boats, making maple sirup, building hot springs, piloting planes, creating origamis, choosing fruits in the supermarket, among many other interesting topics.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I couldn’t agree more with this statement, success is never accomplished alone. I am grateful to so many people who have helped and continue to help me in my journey. I am grateful towards my parents, with whom I never felt the “dream gap” — the fact that, around the age of 12, roughly half of the girls limit their ambitions to roles traditionally seen as feminine. My parents have always empowered me to believe that I could do everything I wanted to. I am grateful towards my friends, who have always encouraged me and have stayed close even as the research career was sending me through different corners of the world, with special thoughts to Sarah Louis and Johan Mathe. Finally, I am beyond grateful towards my husband Mason King, whose support and immense kindness are my rock, fueling my happiness, energy, and determination to be an actor of change.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

After receiving the prize “For Women in Science” by L’Oréal-UNESCO, I became an ambassador in the program “For Girls in Science” program. I concentrated my efforts towards communicating to two populations: young students and policymakers. I visited middle schools and high schools around the country where I shared with students my excitement for my research and life as a woman scientist. I realized that they were naturally fascinated by science! I remember hearing a middle school student telling her friends after my intervention: “science is actually really cool!”. I dream that these interventions might have changed the life directions of a few young students for the better. I also talked to political leaders and policymakers, bringing figures on the lack of diversity in our field while giving a talk at the 50th birthday of UNESCO, at the 50th birthday of Inria or being a keynote speaker at the Women Summit in 2016. Did you know that only 6% of Nobel Prizes are women?

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Surround yourself with people who inspire you to become better.” I feel extremely lucky to be surrounded by incredibly smart and kind people, in my professional and private lives. In the context of my work, I feel grateful to work with my fantastic colleagues and lab members. Nothing would be possible without our teamwork, their commitment to excellence and their enthusiastic approach to research, outreach, and education. They inspire me every day.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

Yes, this person would be Ann S. Bowers, the late American business executive and exceptional education activist and philanthropist in STEM. We named the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative to honor her memory and legacy through the outputs of our research.

Ann served as the first Director of Personnel for Intel Corporation, the first Vice President of Human Resources for Apple Inc. and the Chair of the Board and the founding trustee of the Noyce Foundation. In founding the Noyce Foundation in 1990, she honored her late husband, Dr. Robert N. Noyce, co-founder of Intel and inventor of the integrated circuit, which fueled the personal computer revolution and gave Silicon Valley its name. Ann was also an education activist and philanthropist, and she has served as a consultant to Silicon Valley start-up companies and as a longtime board member at Bay Area nonprofit organizations. Ann’s philosophy has been to invest in strong leaders for those who are willing to put in the time.

Ann is an incredible role model, and her story never ceases to inspire me. A private breakfast with her would have been a lifetime achievement, an opportunity to show her the tremendous positive changes that our AI research brings to the world thanks to the scientific revolution we lead in her name.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.