Women in Science at Queen's - Interview with Dr. Patricia Azevedo De Lima

Global Health

Mon, 01/04/2021 - 08:51

Written by Cassandra Lobo, OPDES Staff

Dr. Patricia Azevedo De Lima is a Scientist, and Assistant Adjunct professor at the Queen’s Cardiopulmonary Unit, and has contributed to promoting women in STEM through founding Women in Science at Queen’s (WiSQ). Dr. Lima is passionate about the inclusion of both sex in studies responding to disease, diagnostic or treatment, and the significance of promoting STEM to future generations. Recently, as part of WISQ Dr. Lima worked alongside Kingston Public Library to create “Queen’s for Teens” which aims to help students in various STEMM fields transition from high school to university. Dr. Lima’s responses are truly inspirational, and motivational, especially to younger generations who wish to pursue a career in STEM. The following questions, and answers below details more about Dr. Lima’s perspective, and experiences.

1.What encouraged, and inspired you to pursue a STEM career? How did your passion for STEM start?

Two people had a critical role in my choice of STEM career. The first one was my father. He is fascinated by physics and biology. I remember spending hours with him watching the discovery channel and how the body works or reading his collection of National Geographic. He always had high expectations for me, and still does today. The second, she was my high school biology teacher, who actually helped me to find that I was passionate about biological science and very good at it. As I am answering this question, it comes to my mind the importance of early-life mentors. My father and this teacher inspired and guided me when I needed it. During my training I also was lucky to find mentors that kept me inspired, but most important – they believed that I could make a difference as a scientist and as a person in the world.

2. Why do you feel that it is important to promote STEM to future generations (i.e. undergraduate students)?

I am going to call it STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Medical Science). I think it is important to promote STEMM to the future generation because I believe that people that chose this field are trained to identify problems, design solutions and apply them. In other words: STEMM professionals have the potential to identify world deficiencies and create positive outcomes. Students (at any level) need not only receive good training, but they also need to get inspired by examples (us, the current scientists)! They need to become a person compassionate and visionary to the future of humanity. That was an interesting question because in October (2020), the Women in Science at Queen’s (WiSQ), an ERG group that I lead here at Queen’s, organized in collaboration with Kingston Public Library (KLP) an event called: “Queen’s for Teens”. The goal of this event was to present different STEMM fields for teens that are in the transition of Highschool- University. The event was a success! The teens had the chance to meet (via zoom) 5 scientists from different areas, and ask many questions, such as: “Are you happy with your career?” - Such clever questions!

3. In your work, you have contributed to research on women’s health, and pregnancy, how do you think that this coronavirus pandemic has impacted women that are pregnant?

I have worked with women’s health and pregnancy in the past, but the topic is still my interest. In my view, the current pandemic has affected pregnant women at stress levels more than physical health itself. Although we are still learning how COVID19 affects pregnancy, at this point, there is no solid evidence supporting that pregnant women are at higher risk for severe illness, morbidity, or mortality compared with non-pregnant women. Neither is there any evidence that the mom can pass the infection for her child during pregnancy. Still, pregnant women may feel more exposed and anxious to situations where they can get infected, such as prenatal medical visits at the hospital or even during the delivery. It is a special moment in a woman’s life. Many emotional and hormonal changes are happening, and she may feel overwhelmed with the current situation of physical distancing and day-by-day limitations. Indubitable, a pregnant woman needs friends, family and health workers' support and understanding.

4. In addition, you are an advocate for the inclusion of both sex in studies responding to disease/diagnostic/treatment. Do you think that the Canadian healthcare system equally includes both sex’s perspectives when developing COVID-19 restrictions, diagnoses, and treatment of the virus?

That is an excellent question! Historically, research involving the development of diagnostic and treatment for different diseases has been exclusively conducted in males. Now, we know that sex alone determines normal physiology, response to a disease, and efficacy of treatments. We, from Queen’s Cardio-Pulmonary Unit (QCPU), are conducting COVID19 research, led by Dr. Stephen Archer. In our case, the inclusion of males and females in the study was automatic - acknowledging the sex differences. In my opinion, there is a good awareness of the necessity of conducting research in both sexes. In the past few years, it became a good practice to consider sex, especially when we are talking about translational medicine. However, the funding availability still a bump to us to achieve full and equal research (matching sex, age and ethnicity). Yes, the encouragement and motivation to have diversity in research are there; but in fact, these studies are very expensive to complete due to the number of subjects in the study (human or experimental models). As I mentioned, the understanding of the importance of inclusive studies is well accepted by the scientific community; but the financial support in the research development for "ALL" still needs to improve.

References "Lima | Department Of Medicine | School Of Medicine | Queen's University". Deptmed.Queensu.Ca, 2020, https://deptmed.queensu.ca/people/patricia-lima.

"Team | Women In Science At Queen's (Wisq)". Queensu.Ca, 2020, https://www.queensu.ca/wisq/team.