NASA Senior Medical Advisor & Founder of iGIANT, Dr. Saralyn Mark, MD is Ensuring Greater Gender/Sex Equity in Technology
Saralyn what is your personal narrative? What key moments in your life led you to where you are?
I was raised on the west side of Denver, Colorado and attended college and medical school in New York City. My father was a child holocaust survivor and did not graduate from high school. My mother was from an old fashioned home where women did not attend college. Thus, education was very important to my parents and even though we didn't have a lot of material resources, we did have love and support to encourage my siblings and me to pursue our dreams. We were raised to believe that anything was possible. I always wanted to be a doctor who practiced on the moon--I was a child of the Apollo days and believed that we all could go to the moon. Eventually, I became the Senior Medical Advisor for over 18 years to NASA, an astronaut finalist, and now will be advising Star Harbor Academy in Colorado!
While studying how the body adapts to space, it became very apparent that sex and gender play a significant role in this type of adaptation and small differences can have a big impact - this all starts on Earth. Hence, the need to create iGIANT® (impact of Gender/Sex on Innovation and Novel Technologies), the only nonprofit accelerator for gendered innovation in the world.
What led each of you to creating iGIANT? What goals do you have while working here to better support an inclusive community?
I developed iGIANT® while working in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Ebola outbreak. It was apparent that women were infecting themselves when they were donning/doffing their protective equipment because the equipment was not designed for their bodies--size, proportion, movement. iGIANT evolved from a concept into a nonprofit after I left the White House. The mission is to accelerate the translation of research into design elements such as programs, policies, protocols, and products across the health, IT, transportation and retail sectors working with stakeholders from government, academia, industry, advocacy across the globe. The vision is to improve the safety and quality of life, including work performance, for everyone in every environment!
iGIANT has created an effective toolkit to engage all our stakeholders including roundtables/summit (specialized roundtables, challenge competitions, seals of approval for design processes and a scholars program such as Youth Ambassadors (high school students) and Scholars-in-Residence (collegiate and above) to inspire the next generation of leaders to see the world through a sex/gender lens.
Sara, after attending the GlobalMindED Conference, what insights and reflections did you have?
I was most impressed by the high energy that all the students had for their programs and their level of curiosity to ask valuable questions during the sessions. Students were treated as peers with senior leadership in companies and organizations which I believe helps to establish collegiality and esprit-de-corps and, most importantly, self-esteem.
How can you and/or your company help GlobalMindED’s mission to connect First Gen and poverty-affected students connect to role models, mentors, internships and jobs?
GlobalMindED has partnered with iGIANT to co-host a challenge competition. I hope that we can launch another challenge with students and they compete. Not only is there a monetary award for the design concept, but the winner is connected to an industry leader to help the student develop their concept. Additionally, students can participate as Youth Ambassadors or Scholars depending on their educational level. Students have articles in peer-reviewed medical journals. In fact, students are working with Harvard Medical School students on an article on the need for National Centers for Gender and Health equity progressing from the traditional models on Centers of Excellence in Women's Health. Additionally, they host roundtables and summits with their peers and leaders in various disciplines. It's a wonderful opportunity for networking and outreach. Through these activities, our students have gone on to rewarding educational opportunities and careers.
What else can the GlobalMindED Inclusive Success Network do to inform and advance your equity goals?
Outreach and awareness is so important to our mission. iGIANT would love to partner with GlobalMinded to co-host a roundtable with your alliances and networks and in just over an hour, everyone becomes iGIANT ambassadors to encourage their communities to see the world through a gender/sex lens!
What is the iGIANT Sports Summit? What are you most hopeful and excited about for this event?
iGIANT has hosted over 100 Roundtable/Summits. Every roundtable and summit has been an outstanding experience with outcomes that are creative and collaborative. Many partnerships have developed. Everyone is interested in sports and physical activity which is essential to a healthy lifestyle. Prior to the pandemic, iGIANT hosted roundtables in gyms across the country--we went to where people were inspired to improve their health and wellness. Interestingly, it became apparent quite quickly that sex/gender impact every aspect of our lives including physical activity (Sports Summit Fact Sheet). The summit helps to catalyze awareness, sharing of best practices and empowering people to become ambassadors for innovation. The purpose of the Sports Summit is to establish a common dialog about best design practices that consider gender/sex differences and to inspire participants to serve as ambassadors for innovation. These events have convened stakeholders from government, industry, academia and advocacy groups.
You are invited to give a brief overview (under 3 minutes) of your design element (no slides) or even just your interest in this area. We understand that some information is proprietary and disclosure may be limited. Following this exciting dialog, there will be a discussion on challenges and opportunities to further accelerate precision innovation and design since everyone is now an ambassador for innovation!
MEETING INFORMATION WILL BE SENT UPON CONFIRMATION
What advice would you give to future Inclusive Inspirational Leaders?
My advice to future Inclusive Inspirational Leaders is to be fearless and speak up for those who may not have a voice. Every idea that one generates can change the world for the better, but it requires partnerships to make it happen. Reach out to those who can help you and never give up on your dreams. Afterall, I may still practice medicine on the moon one day!
