Dr. Catalina Lopez-Correa On Her New Book, Barriers For Women In STEM, and The Power Of Mentoring.
Catalina Lopez-Correa’s path has been anything but linear, her experience goes from medicine and academia to research institutes, pharma corporates and now as the leader of GenomeBC. Catalina is committed to empowering others by sharing her expertise and resources. We chat with her about her new book as well as about the challenges she has encountered and faces even today.
How does your typical day look like at Genome BC?
I have a lot of meetings, with colleagues internally from different groups but also with a lot of external people. So one day I can be in meetings with mining companies, another day I can be in a meeting with doctors from the cancer agency, another day I can be in meetings with farmers. So it’s a very diverse job with many different people with different backgrounds. It’s just great!
A lot about my job is educating and trying to find ways showing different stakeholders how we are having an impact and basically, finding solutions for some of the world‘s biggest challenges.
I was interested in demonstrating that genomics is not technology for rich countries.
You just co-edited a book called ‘Genomic Medicine in Emerging Economies’, what was your motivation behind in editing and writing that book?
I was interested in demonstrating that genomics is not technology only for rich countries. Of course, my mandate here in my day-to-day job is to implement genomics: to build an ecosystem in BC. But then I started thinking what genomics is doing in emerging economies and developing countries, so I initially participated in writing papers that were published with people who shared the same interests. I met people in Colombia, Greece, and China, who were very nice to include me in the discussions. We have a couple of papers published on that. Afterwards, George Patrinos a Greek professor at the University of Patras and I decided to write this book to show that genomics is not technology only for rich and developed countries but is having an impact on the planet. The whole project started maybe 2 ½ years ago. It was a long process but very rewarding because we get to attract all these great people, each one of them has their stories in this vast and niche field in their countries.
Do you think empowerment through genomics is feasible in developing countries, too? How?
Yes, most of the developing countries don’t have the same amount of funding to invest. They do not have the millions and millions that Canada, the US or Europe have invested but they have a faster way to implement the technology. In Canada, we spend a lot of money in doing whole genome, understanding the three billion letters, but trying to get the variants and implement that in the healthcare system is a challenge. In countries like Thailand and Colombia, they’re good at finding shortcuts, instead of analyzing the whole genome they analyze panels. They are able to implement it with very limited tools and deliver to the patient faster. Think about cancer, the doctors know what markers help them to stratify the patients. They use the money to look at the, maybe, five letters in the genome and how they guide the treatment. So in some ways, of course, the leading countries will be the developed countries because they have a more systematic way, but there are some great examples of emerging economies advancing and implementing even faster.
Are there similar challenges that developed and developing countries face?
Yes, education is the same challenge everywhere, I did medicine in Colombia and I didn’t learn anything about genomics back then. Today at UBC, same thing, doctors, they don’t learn about genomics. In Colombia, they still don’t learn about genomics. Education of doctors and health providers about genomics and how they can use it is not happening.
The other challenge is policy and regulatory aspects, it seems that science and technology are moving faster than our ability to develop new policies in how to use, reimburse and implement those new technologies in the healthcare system. And that’s happening here and in emerging economies, everywhere.
Talking about the genome, have you had your genome sequenced, and have discovered anything that was a surprise for you?
Yes and no. A couple of things — when I was studying medicine all my friends could drink lots of coffee while for me, with the second coffee I was feeling unwell, my heart was beating fast. When I did my genome, first thing that I learned was that I had a slow metabolism for caffeine. So my genes really explained, clearly why is it that I don’t like coffee, it’s in my genes. I thought this was really cool, it was my body that is talking to me. Another one is that I have a genetic predisposition to macular degeneration, it runs in my family. It’s not really diagnostic but it does mean that I have more probability that the average population. So, I’m being proactive. I modified my lifestyle and diet in function of what my genome is saying.
No big surprises but I was really stressed when I got the results because they encrypted the results for Alzheimer’s and breast cancer. I have to think overnight if I really want to see those and it’s all because these results may have a consequence for you and your health. For example, Alzheimer’s, there’s no treatment, there’s nothing you can do and to get that diagnosis or to know you have a predisposition it may ruin your life. And breast cancer… well, you can do as Angelina Jolie did but still, it’s pretty… scary.
Due to the importance of these data, would it be a good idea to have a doctor or counsellor beside you when they hand the information to you?
Absolutely, and that’s the challenge with these online services. You are on your own, and when you go to your doctor, your doctor actually disregards the result, most of the time is because they don’t understand it, they are not educated in this sense.
I offered the test to my team when I was working at Genome Quebec, which was paid with some leftover budget. I thought the genetic screening would be part of our engagement and education. Get them trained in all these questions, like what does it mean for me as an individual? Half of the people said, no way. And all of them are PhDs, working and promoting genomics. Some were suspicious about the company using their data and selling it, being in the cloud, or just very concerned about the results. So in the end, half of the group was not ready to do it. So, we didn’t do it.
One of the key dilemmas or questions in Genetics is, who owns the genetic data? Your genome, the information in your genome, does it belong to the Ministry of Health? Or, does it belong to the company that you pay online? Can they keep it and sell it to pharmaceutical companies? Or, does it belong to you? And as an individual, can you manage that? All these questions are now being raised and being discussed, which is interesting.
I’ve been treated differently in a lot of situations, and not only for being female, Latino, woman, and also gay. I always faced big barriers in terms of how people perceived me.
Have you ever been in a situation as a female scientist when you feel you were perceived different because you were female?
Many. For example, I was denied a Director position. We were two candidates and honestly, I felt more qualified than my male counterpart, but they chose him and I never understood why. Even now, I sometimes feel that I’m… not ready to be the CEO, to be the President, but yet when I looked back at some of the presidents I have work with… I can do much better (in whispers), really, honestly, I can do much better, but they’re there, and they’re men they’re white, they have the right friends, they live in the right place, they have the right wife and kids, like a pattern of what you should look like.
I’ve been treated differently in a lot of situations, and not only for being female, is female, latino, woman, and also gay. I always faced big barriers in terms of how people perceived me. I have been also, lucky enough that I have been able to progress in my career and advance the way I wanted.
People often say, well you don’t look like Latino/a. I cannot say how different they would have treated me, because I don’t look Latino, but I know people immediately may have a different perception, which is terrible.
I had a friend, at Eli Lilly, she was also my mentor and she helped me to grow up in that company, to get more opportunities, to meet the right people. In a year and a half, I already have met a lot of the key people, because of her. One day she told me, “I think you have great potential and you will accomplish more than me, I could not because I’m female but also because of my colour.” She was quite dark.
What can we do to accomplish diversity then? In the workplace?
There are many levels. At GenomeBC, we’re trying to address it at many different levels. First, there’s all this unconscious bias, so getting people educated on how you sometimes might have preconceived ideas that you need to get over and you need to educate yourself.
Another one is empowering women, show that we can do things, we still have to deal with this impostor syndrome, every day. I still experience it when I go to these mining companies. You feel like you don’t belong, or maybe that you are not at their level but you are! And you don’t feel secure, so working in our self-confidence, empowering women since they are kids, that you can do it, that your voice is the same as the male voice.
Role models are critical too, we don’t have enough women as CEOs, don’t have enough role models at the very high positions. It makes you think you cannot do it, because you don’t relate with the individuals that are doing those roles and because probably you will do things differently, but it doesn’t mean you will do it badly, you might do it even better.
I think we need to dream big, don’t just get contented, go dream big, dream for the biggest thing you can.
You have already shared a lot of advice to young women who are considering a career in science, but what do you wish you had known?
I think if I knew from early stages and even now that basically, the sky’s the limit. I think it’s important to better understand that often the limits are our own limits if we think we can’t it’s either because we’re afraid or we don’t feel confident but most of the time we can do it.
When I mentor people, I always say, “Dream big”. We need to dream big, not just be contented. Go dream big, dream for the biggest thing you can. Get a good education, have a mentor. I think is essential having good mentors. Male, female…somebody who can help you look at yourself in another way as well as give you tools and give you ideas.
So, did you have a mentor in every step of your career?
Almost, not when I was in Medicine, but when I moved to Europe it naturally happened. I connected with scientists there and this female professor guided me. Whenever I had challenges, I called her or I met her and she helped me. Now I lost track, but this person was very crucial for me in my early stages. Eli Lilly had a good mentoring program where you meet with your mentor every three months. I had two female mentors, high positions, two VPs and my friend from Panama whom I was meeting almost every month or every two months. After that, at Genome Quebec I had two mentors too. It became my mantra, ‘I need a mentor’. Even now having a mentor is still essential for me. And I love mentoring too, I love giving time to people.
Are you mentoring right now? Do you have a mentee?
Yeah, I created a small group, Immigrant and International Women in Science, we meet and chat and tell our stories and how we are doing in our jobs, and try to develop tools. It’s more like a little support group.
It’s a great dynamic because we all learn, juniors and seniors. I learn a lot from them. It’s also energizing to see all this enthusiasm and learn that all of us had to break many barriers, that nothing is for granted, that you’re not here because you were lucky, and all these opportunities just open for you. All of us are working hard to be where we are, all of us. It’s great.
