STEM Chat with Jaren Landen

chat with Jaren Landen
October 27, 2014 Jaren Landen, Ph.D., Pfizer Global Research and Development, Director, Clinician, Global Innovative Pharma
The person who inspired me the most when I was growing up is my grandmother. She is a mother of six, grandmother of 20, great grandmother of five so far including my four, became a realtor at 55 and lied about her age to get her first job because she thought she was too old to work. At 93 years old, she is still working today and does not miss a beat. Keeping her mind and body active has been the greatest blessing to our family. I had no idea I would be part of at least half a dozen major acquisitions and still with the same company I started with a dozen years ago in a field where the average employment is approximately two years, and in many cities like Cambridge you can change jobs and keep your parking space. My dream project is to work on a team that impacts disease progression of Alzheimer's Disease. The best advice I ever received was to do a great job at whatever you are doing today no matter what the task and the next great thing will come your way. I always worry but not too much about what is next because when colleagues/supervisors take note of a job well done and positive working relationships, the next opportunity always comes. In my free time I am too boring to describe. Life is about soccer, baseball, softball game, swim meets, dance lessons, and playmates. Because I have chosen to have such a large family, work has become my hobby. It is the part of my life that I look forward to because it is for me filled with stimulating adult conversations about interesting cutting edge science topics and challenges.	If I had a one year sabbatical, I would take my entire family on a global health fellows tour. Pfizer offers a six month sabbatical to do amazing things throughout the world through an application process. My children are too young at the moment and it is hard to imagine a time when we could stop time and do something like this; however, I imagine it would offer extreme personal and professional growth. Now that I have stated this here, I am hoping to be held accountable to doing a fellowship at some point in the future. My tools of the trade are interpersonal skills. Never underestimate that the key to getting anything done well is not how smart you are, but how well you work with others, manage others as appropriate, and are sensitive to the needs and pressures of others in the workplace. Likeability makes teams work harder towards a common goal and is more likely to lead to team success than a great idea alone. I'm proud that I stayed in the workplace while having four children. I cannot underestimate how important staying in the workplace has been for me. This is such a personal decision. Although I will always have some regrets about never being in a mothers group or attending Gymboree class, my children are starting to understand what I do and the contributions that I have made in my workplace. I have taught them by example how to prioritize and develop time management skills. They have learned how to entertain themselves in the evenings or weekends during the occasional emergency work call. For me, staying in the work place has kept my knowledge in my field current in an ever changing science field, ensured that I maintained industry contacts, and developed a very powerful camaraderie among other working women in the industry. I still hope to participate in an eMBA program.
Jaren will be speaking at The Women in STEM Idea Exchange Summit in Boston. Find out more at www.womeninSTEMsummits.com © 2014 IIR Holdings, LTD. All Rights Reserved.

5 Ways You Can Make an Impact on the Women in STEM Initiative

The Boston Women in STEM Idea Exchange Summit is just a week away and we want YOU to get involved in this exciting initiative. This is your time to inspire, engage, discuss and change the future of the STEM workforce.

The Women in STEM Idea Exchange Summit - Boston - October 21, 2014 at the Center for Women and Business Bentley University. Brings together companies struggling to fill their STEM job pipelines with female college students pursuing STEM degrees. It is designed to facilitate closing the gap between corporate needs for a STEM-enabled workforce and student questions about job prospects that align their passion with the needs of corporate America. Download the brochure for full program details: http://bit.ly/1mV2Hl4

Here are 5 ways you can have an impact on the Women in STEM initiative:

1)     Students, Get Published. We are looking for a student or multiple students in the Boston area to write an executive summary of the Women in Exchange Idea Summit in Boston later this month. Your responsibility would be to write a summary of the sessions you attend to provide valuable perspective to other students. What’s in it for you? Outside of attending the event for free, your writing will be published on our website! Send all inquiries to Ali Saland at asaland@iirusa.com

2)     Tweet and Win a Free Pass! Fans and followers of The Women in STEM Idea Exchange Summits are invited to enter the Tweet & Win Contest by following @WISExchange and tweeting tips about how to become successful in STEM with the hashtag #STEMTips to win a complimentary pass to The Women in Exchange Idea Summit. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/1CHnZqe

3)      Share Your Story. Share yours or someone else’s story about persisting and making a difference in STEM fields. Our My Story, My Advice Project features Women in STEM that are persisting in STEM fields and making a difference. It also gives their personal advice to the next generation of young women looking for encouragement to persist in STEM. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/1nRMwFV

4)      Get Social. Start a discussion on one or more of our Women in STEM Exchange social media communities including LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/1rMWqbj Twitter: http://bit.ly/1uE2uVZ and Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1BBEwJR

5)      Attend The Women in STEM Idea Exchange Summit.  Become part of the solution; meet and network, recruit, share and feed the pipelines. Register today: http://bit.ly/1r1ZkUq

Also, check out our monthly STEM Chat Newsletter that features the amazing women of STEM: http://bit.ly/1tZ9YT2

Looking forward to seeing you at the Summit!

Cheers,

The Women in STEM Exchange Summits Team
#WISBoston
@WISExchange
Steamacceleratorblog.iirusa.com

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See Why These Companies are Attending The Women in STEM Idea Exchange Summit

In case you haven’t heard, The Women in STEM Idea Exchange Summit is taking place next month and we couldn’t be more excited to be able to take part in changing the future of the STEM workforce.  100+ individuals including HR Representatives, Corporate Social Responsibility, Diversion and Inclusion teams, Talent and Acquisition representatives, Scientists, Engineers, Mathematicians and Tech Professionals and College students will come together to share what they’ve learned, engage with the next generation of STEM women and drive change.

Download the brochure for full program details: http://bit.ly/1uHbNEv

Here’s Why Companies are Investing in the Women In STEM Idea Exchange Summit:

Senior management is attending to show their support of this effort

Find ideas at the summit that will help us build on the existing formal and informal activities

Learn best practices for encouraging leadership of women in STEM

Increase the community role for our organization

To identify topics that resonate for personal development

Hear case studies that will serve as best practice for my organization

Identify candidates for continued networking beyond the summit

What are you waiting for?  Make your mark within the STEM community by attending The Women In STEM Idea Exchange Summit next month in Boston and you will impact change in your organization and community.

Here is just a sample of companies participating:

Northeastern University
Fidelity Investments
Sage Cloud
Knewton
Liberty Mutual Insurance Co
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
STEM-SMART
Pro Search Inc
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems
Princeton University
Idexx Laboratories
Pearson
Bristol-Myers Squibb
BattelleED

Dassault Systèmes
Covidien
MIT
The Center for STEM Education, Northeastern University
Xerox
Tata Consultancy
STEMConnector
Pfizer
Hanscom Air Force Base
Bentley University
Draper Laboratory
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
PAREXEL International
Shire

All that’s missing is YOU: gain inside knowledge from leaders who have already diversified their STEM workforce, meet and recruit recent graduate women, investor in mentorship, share your story of inspiration and learn best practices in smart STEM investing.

Become part of a movement to change the future of America. Join us.

Mention code STEM14BL & Save $100 off the standard rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/1vEjE3Q

Check out our monthly STEM Chat Newsletter that features the amazing women of STEM: http://bit.ly/1tZ9YT2

Looking forward to seeing you at the Summit!

Cheers,

The Women in STEM Exchange Summits Team
#WomeninSTEM
@WISExchange
Steamacceleratorblog.iirusa.com

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• 5 easy steps to increase female engagement in STEM (eschoolnews.com)