What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned?

Care personally while challenging directly —a lesson from Kim Scott’s Radical Candor. Leadership requires honest, constructive feedback delivered with genuine care. And it goes both ways—receiving feedback matters too. Kindness isn’t a liability; it’s an asset when paired with clarity and accountability.

What do you consider to be your most important career achievement or milestone?

I was a finalist in Stanford’s university-wide Three Minute Thesis competition, where I presented my research to a general audience and judges including Condoleezza Rice. It reinforced that science has a bigger impact when it’s clearly communicated beyond the lab.

What do you aspire to accomplish in your career and why? What obstacles will you overcome?

To build a company that translates research into sustained, real-world impact. Not just solving one problem, but building platforms that keep solving it. This path requires constant iteration, adaptation and persistence.

Describe an amazing opportunity in your STEM career.

During COVID-19, I worked in drug manufacturing at Genentech, helping produce therapies while most of the world shut down. It was a rare chance to see how science directly becomes something that reaches patients when it matters most.

How was AWIS helped you professionally and/or personally?

AWIS has been a great way to build community. Being around thoughtful, driven women has been encouraging and a reminder of how important support and shared perspective are.

What is your favorite word? (only one word)

Objectivity.

How do you define it?

Objectivity is grounded in evidence. Question assumptions, follow the data, and stay open to being wrong. Strong convictions are important—but they should be loosely held.

How has this word influenced or inspired your career?

Objectivity has shaped my approach to science: be your own critic, build the right controls, and question everything. Objectivity means holding your work to the highest standard before anyone else does.

How does AWIS impact your career journey?

AWIS offers perspective and connection. It’s a space to learn from others and see different paths forward in STEM.

What are you currently reading or listening to?

Eve, by Kat Bohannon, walks through 200 million years of evolution through the female body, connecting traits across species to how they exist today. It highlights a perspective often missing in science.

What do you consider the best professional or personal advice you’ve ever received?

If something is truly ambitious, it will feel challenging at times. Success isn’t about being the smartest—it’s about finishing what you start.

Mikaela Ribi is a PhD candidate in Chemistry at Stanford University working at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and medicine. She works in Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi’s lab, developing tools to study glycans, an overlooked layer of biology that shapes how cells communicate and function. Co-advised in Stanford Pathology by Dr. Mike Angelo, her work focuses on clinically actionable approaches to therapeutic development.