Maithili Sashindranath
BIO
Biomedical scientist and Deputy Group Leader at the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases at Monash University Melbourne. Two kids aged 4 and 8.
Instagram: @mtx4
Twitter: @dr_maithili
Maithili Sashindranath
“With support, every woman scientist can make it in this journey.”
I was born and raised in India. I changed 13 schools in 12 years because my father was in a transferable job. When I was in Grade 12 I moved countries! My family moved to Botswana, and I was faced with the huge challenge of completing school in a different system, in a new continent. At 16, I moved out of home to pursue a BSc and BSc Hons in Genetics at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. I worked various jobs in the university including being a hostel warden where I was one of the youngest residents. I provided pastoral care and support to students who were often 3-4 years older than me. For my PhD, I moved continents again. This time I came to Melbourne, Australia, which I now call home. I was awarded three international scholarships and once again worked as a tutor/warden at a residential college. I met my husband in Melbourne and we married soon after I finished my PhD at 25. I have worked as a Research Fellow at Monash University since 2008. In 2016 I took on a more senior role where I led a research group, and in 2020 I was promoted to Deputy Group Leader. I have two children, aged 4 and 8.
I have wanted to be a scientist since I was 13; the 13-year old me used to say “We have been learning anatomy and how to treat diseases for centuries, but now we need to know how the body works, and what goes wrong, at the molecular level”. I continue to love research. Research is all about learning, and learning is all about research.
I am passionate about mentoring and leadership. Each person I mentor is naturally different, and mentoring to create a positive impact teaches me a lot about humanity. Being a good leader is the most important aspect of my research career. I strive to participate in initiatives to stop the high attrition rate of women in academic biomedical research, which is high because it is a very competitive industry. However, a new cure for a disease could be in the hands of some of these women, who were forced to leave because it was too hard to maintain a successful academic career and manage a family.
With support, every woman scientist can make it in this journey, and I want to work towards finding ways to provide this support.
I only hope that I receive the support I need to maintain a successful career in academia. Unfortunately, funding is limited all over the world, and so that puts us all in the same boat. I try to lead by example but I know first-hand how hard it is to maintain an academic research career and be the primary carer for young kids. I constantly feel like I am juggling balls in the air.
My coping strategy is to work smarter, and to give my time proportionately to the task at hand, with a focus on getting the job done. I try to allocate time to my kids, to my home and to my personal wellbeing but that means there is rarely a moment when I am not ‘doing’ anything.
I love yoga; it rules my world and my kids know not to disturb me when I'm practising! I am also an experimental baker; I rarely bake the same thing twice. Both activities are equally therapeutic for me.
When I was younger, I did not think twice about all the transitions across countries and continents in the early years of my life; but when I look back I realise how much my experiences have moulded me into who I am today. I believe that we are all a sum total of our experiences and our decisions. We are where we are today because of our experiences and decisions. Our experiences will influence our future decisions, and so on.