Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.
Shana started at 23andMe in 2012 as an Executive Assistant to the Chief Legal Officer and is now a Business Operations Sr. Manager in the Marketing Department. She says she is grateful for the opportunity to grow. “I’m thankful and fortunate the leadership team believes in me and are my biggest champions to succeed; I don’t feel this is done in many companies.” This Women’s History Month, we asked Shana who her female role model is. “My biggest role model is my mom, Ana, and grandmother, Dolores. They’ve shown such resilience and strength throughout my life. Another female role model is Marlee Matlin. I was born deaf and have worn hearing aids all my life. My mom would show me movies that Marlee was in, and it was very special to see someone like me who could not hear, but was still successful in their life. It helped me push through the roadblocks and prove I am just as capable as a hearing person.”
Our new 23andMe annual membership provides a number of reports on heart-related conditions. Newly added to that list is our Triglycerides report (Powered by 23andMe Research) which can tell customers about their genetic likelihood of developing high triglyceride levels. This condition can lead to heart disease, stroke and sometimes pancreatitis, but healthy lifestyle actions can help lower the chances of developing it. Learn more about the report in our blog.
This week, 23andMe employees got to hear from Dr. Euan Ashley, a Professor of Medicine and Genetics and Associate Dean at Stanford University. He discussed how sequencing the human genome is our most important tool for solving medical mysteries and how sequencing SARS-CoV-2 was the foundation for our response to the pandemic.
Shirley Wu is the Director of Product Science, a discipline that is pretty unique to 23andMe. Product Science interacts with nearly every team across the company in order to develop, validate, and communicate about our reports and other features. She also leads the Product, R&D and Engineering DEI group at 23andMe where she is working to ensure our product and research experience is as inclusive as possible. “If we want to help people access, understand, and benefit from the human genome then we have to make our product more equitable, inclusive, and representative of human diversity.” In honor of Women’s History Month, we asked Shirley if she has any advice for other women. She said, “Acknowledging that imposter syndrome is real and persistent, so don't beat yourself up about it! You might not ever lose that self-doubt completely, but don't let it stop you from doing things that you're interested in, or from taking on new opportunities. A lot of life is figuring things out as you go along, and the more you trust in yourself to do so, the easier it is to just keep moving forward.”
In honor of Women's History Month, we hosted a panel that highlighted six of the amazing women at 23andMe. Anne Wojcicki, Carrie Northover, Elo Ratliff, Jen Brady, Kellina Lohman and Olivia Luna discussed what it's like being a woman in the workplace and what advice they have to help women succeed and advocate for themselves.
New 23andMe research explored why asthma attacks among consented research participants in the U.S. increased by 10% in 2020 compared to 2019. This small analysis highlights how 23andMe research data can be leveraged to gain rapid insights into how naturally occurring events can affect the health of a specific sub-population.
Congrats to Anjali Shastri, Phd, 23andMe Senior Program Manager, for being recognized on GV's Impact List, highlighting 25 exceptional women for International Women's Day.
“As a brand grounded in science and research, we are proud to support the Black Information Network and The Ad Council’s campaign to deliver trusted, balanced information around the data behind the COVID-19 vaccine. Knowledge is power, and the campaign message “It’s Up To You” highlights the importance of being armed with the critical information necessary to make an informed health decision today and in the future,” said Tracy Keim, 23andMe Vice President, Consumer Marketing and Brand.
As a part of Black History Month, L. Okey Onyejekwe Jr., MD, JD (he/his), 23andMe’s Vice President of Healthcare Operations and Medical Affairs, reflects on “Hope, Healthcare and Black Lives.” “The perspectives I share here are those of a healthcare provider who happens also to be Black. Being Black in America requires drawing on an endless reservoir of hope of what could be, and not what is. So hope is not new for me, even though the events of the past year tested that outlook.” Read his full article here https://lnkd.in/ghGHP28
As part of our ongoing efforts to improve diversity in biomedical research, we recently began work on our Black Representation in Genetic Research study. This study aims to understand how genetic variants can influence the risk of developing a disease. The ultimate goal is to create a resource so that scientists can better identify unique genetic disease risk factors in individuals with African ancestry and develop more effective treatments.
