Girls in STEM Summit 2025

Harvard University | April 5, 2025

At our inaugural Girls in STEM Summit, over 80 middle school girls gathered at Harvard University to gain first-hand exposure to STEM. The event included a series of workshops and speaker events led by 20+ female experts in the STEM field!

Phillips Academy Women in STEM

Logo of Phillips Academy Andover featuring a circular crest with the Latin phrase "Non Sibi" at the top and "Sigill. Phillips. Acad." around the border, and an illustration of a beehive, a plant, and a lamp. Below the crest, the text reads "Phillips Academy ANDOVER."

hosted in collaboration with

Harvard GWISE logo with science icons and text that says "Graduate Women in Science and Engineering at Harvard Griffin GSAS."

Our Partners

X-Camp logo with a yellow and orange stylized 'X' and black text reading '-Camp'
Circular black and white logo with concentric rings and a stylized letter 'Q' on the left, and the text 'Jane Street' in bold black letters on the right.
Logo of AoPS featuring a 3D cube with green and blue squares and the text 'AoPS Art of Problem Solving'.
KTYTE logo with stylized orange and white text.
Desmos logo with a green icon featuring a stylized graph and the word 'desmos' in lowercase green letters
Logotype of MATHCOUNTS in blue and gray letters on a white background.

Speakers

A woman standing in front of a whiteboard filled with colorful sticky notes, diagrams, and writing, holding a dry erase marker. There are framed pictures hanging on the wall beside her.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

DR. CONSTANCE CEPKO

Dr. Connie Cepko is the Bullard Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She earned her Ph.D. at MIT, where she studied virology and later trained at the MIT Whitehead Institute. Dr. Cepko is a pioneer in developing retroviral tools to study how genes work in the nervous system. Her research has focused on how different types of cells in the retina are formed and how stem and progenitor cells decide their fate. More recently, her lab has been working to understand what causes the death of light-sensing cells in the eye, in diseases like retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration, which lead to blindness.

Morning Workshop Session

  • EMILY TSAI

    Harvard Pre-Med Alumnus, Clinical Research Coordinator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
    So You Want To Be A Pre-Med?

  • Young woman with long dark hair, glasses, and a big smile standing outside near a building.

    VICTORIA WONG

    Harvard Pre-Med Alumnus, Medical Assistant
    So You Want To Be A Pre-Med?

  • Professional woman with long wavy red hair, wearing a plaid blazer and black top, smiling against a white background.

    JENNY CALAHAN

    Kavli-Laukien Origins of Life Fellow at the Center for Astrophysics
    Introduction to Astrophysics

  • A young woman with long, wavy hair smiling outdoors, wearing a black blazer and top, with a brick building background.

    KATHY LIU

    Ph.D. Candidate in Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering at Harvard University
    The World of Bioengineering

  • A young man with black hair, round glasses, and earbuds standing outdoors in front of greenery with leafy bushes.

    CALVIN HU

    Ph.D. Candidate in Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University
    The World of Chemistry

  • Professional headshot of a smiling man with dark hair, wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt, and red tie, against a gray background.

    VARUN GANDHI

    Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science at Harvard School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
    Computer Science and Technology

Journeys in STEM from Graduate Students

Morning Panel

Moderator

A smiling young woman with long dark hair, wearing a patterned blouse, standing indoors.

Liana Tellez

Ph.D. Candidate in Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Speakers

Young woman standing outdoors with fall foliage in background, smiling, wearing a gray blazer, white shirt, and gray pants.

Kiwi Florido

Ph.D. Candidate in Biological Sciences in Public Health Program

Portrait of a young woman with long wavy hair, smiling, wearing a black jacket and earrings, standing outdoors against a blurred background.

Kathy Liu

Ph.D. Candidate in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering

Young woman with long black hair, wearing a blue striped shirt, smiling in a kitchen setting.

Cynthia Moncada-Reid

Ph.D. Candidate in the Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology Program

Afternoon Workshop Session

  • GABRIEL ALBERTS

    Ph.D. Candidate in the Speech and Hearing Bioscience & Technology Program at Harvard University
    Cellular and Molecular Biology

  • A woman with long dark hair and a blue striped shirt smiling inside a kitchen.

    CYNTHIA MONCADA-REID

    Ph.D. Candidate in the Speech and Hearing Bioscience & Technology Program at Harvard University
    Cellular and Molecular Biology

  • A young woman with long brown hair, wearing a white shirt, sitting outside in a yard with trees and a brick building in the background, smiling at the camera.

    WENDI LIU

    Associate Director of Computational Science and AI at Moderna
    Data and Population Health Sciences

  • Portrait of a young woman with long dark hair, smiling, standing outdoors in a park with green trees and grass.

    YUCHEN LIU

    Ph.D. Candidate in the Population Health Sciences Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    Data and Population Health Sciences

  • A woman with black hair smiling, wearing a sleeveless striped top, sitting against a light wooden wall background.

    SI QIN from X-CAMP

    Teacher at Silicon Valley-Based Coding School
    Learning to Code in Python, sponsored by X-Camp

  • A young woman with long brown hair smiling at the camera, background includes a rustic wooden wall and large windows.

    MAYA HARRIS

    MIT M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics & Technology and Policy Program
    Introduction to Aerospace Engineering

  • Woman sitting comfortably in an orange chair with a robot dog in front of her, in a room with a wall decorated with the words "Learning Together" and a green chair.

    DR. LORI TOWLE

    Executive Director of Code & Circuit Youth Nonprofit
    Robotics with Boston Dynamic’s Spot

Afternoon Panel

Insights from Professionals in STEM

Moderator

Portrait of a smiling woman with black hair, wearing pearl earrings, a pearl necklace, and a white blazer against a gray background.

Dr. Pichamol Jirapinyo, MD, MPH

Director of the Bariatric Endoscopy Fellowship @ Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Speakers

Portrait of a woman with short brown hair wearing a blue button-up shirt and dark sweater vest, smiling, with a blurred scenic background.

Dr. Sofia Warner, MD/MBA

Internal Medicine Physician @ Boston Medical Center

A smiling man with blond hair, wearing a white shirt, standing outdoors in front of a building with plants and flowers.

Dr. Max Friesen, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow @ the Whitehead Institute, Stem Cell Biology and Metabolic Disease 

Young woman smiling outdoors in fall with trees in the background, wearing a gray blazer, white shirt, gray pants, and a belt.

Kiwi Florido

Ph.D. Candidate in Biological Sciences in Public Health Program