Angela Crespo
Ângela Crespo is a research scientist in the biotech industry specialised in the development of pharmaceutical drugs to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. In an interview with our team, she shares her inspiring journey and the challenges of being a first generation college graduate, immigrant, and mother raising her daughter while pursuing a scientific research career.
1. Please describe your job in one sentence.
I am a research scientist at Dragonfly Therapeutics, a biotechnology company based in Boston, working in the early development of NK cell engagers (bispecific antibodies) designed to combat cancer and autoimmune diseases.
2. What do you aspire to accomplish in your career and why?
From an early age, I have always been fascinated by the human body, its systems and their functions, and how they can become dysregulated or be affected by infections, leading to disease. That led me to pursue an undergrad and masters in Biology in Lisbon, where I am from, followed by a PhD and a postdoctoral fellowship in Immunology in Boston. During my PhD, I realized I wanted my research to have a more direct impact in the lives of patients and decided I wanted to make the move from academia to the biotech industry. That step had to wait due to immigration issues (I did not obtain a green card until the middle of my post-doc). Every day at my job, I am driven by the desire to see at least one person benefit from the work I do - improve the quality of their lives and give them the chance to enjoy more time with their families.
3. What do you consider to be your most important career achievement or milestone?
Something that makes me very proud is the fact that I am a first generation college graduate and the first PhD in my family, which is a testament to how hard my parents and grandparents, who did not have that opportunity, worked to help me get where I am. I was also very fortunate to have published very well during my postdoc, which opened a lot of doors when applying for jobs even outside academia. However, I think my most important achievement may have been simply surviving my post-doc with my sanity intact. I did not have the easiest experience; even though I learned a lot of skills that I am grateful for, the job was incredibly demanding and the feedback was very rarely encouraging, which led to a very challenging environment in the workplace. Although not diagnosed, I believe I may have had an episode of depression. It was also this environment that made me postpone becoming a mother, as I knew I would never be able to juggle the two. I got through it while at the same time running the Boston chapter of a Portuguese association (Portuguese-American Postgraduate Society (PAPS), which I am still running to this day, always in a volunteer capacity), planning my wedding and supporting some of my husband's ventures. It was not easy to go through such a challenge while living so far away from my immediate family, but I tried to find a support system in my husband and friends. Today I am very happy to work in a place where my input is valued and my time is respected. I am still doing volunteer activities outside of work (in PAPS and in an alumni mentorship program I created with my alma mater) and raising my 3 year old daughter, and I still managed to be promoted twice in less than 3 years.
4. What career obstacles have you faced as a mother in STEMM? How did you overcome them?
As an immigrant mother and scientist, the greatest obstacles I've faced have been the "forced" lack of family support in raising our daughter. I understood from very early on that if I wanted to pursue a meaningful career in STEMM, I would need to leave my home country and unfortunately also leave the comfort of my family. I've always missed them terribly, but it was of course exacerbated when I became a mother. My in-laws also live quite far (in Florida), so it's really just me and my husband having to juggle two careers and raising a toddler (and another baby on the way). I was conscious I would have very little support, so I knew I had to postpone starting a family until after my post-doc, when I would hopefully find a job with a better work-balance. When applying for jobs, one of the most important factors for me was the company's policies and culture when it came to parenting. I am very fortunate that my company offers a very good maternity leave and flexible hours, and I have very understanding managers - that is the only way I can coordinate my job with my daughter's schedules. I am also one lucky wife to a wonderful husband who is the most amazing dad to our daughter and takes on the same amount of responsibility in parenting. In fact, because our daughter was born during the pandemic, we postponed sending her to daycare and my husband was a stay-at-home dad for over a year. I do acknowledge that is a privilege not all parents have and I do not take it for granted.
5. What was the best professional or personal advice you’ve ever received?
I would say the best advice I've gotten was to never stop learning and always ask for help, be it at work or in life. I have made an effort to surround myself with people that have lifted me up and made me a better person, better scientist, better mother. I still have trouble asking for help, as I always feel an inherent guilt of inconveniencing other people (something generational, as my mother is exactly the same), and usually I am the first to go out of my way to offer help. It can, however, be freeing to learn how to delegate and not carry all the burden by yourself.
6. How did MiS help you professionally and/or personally?
I am a new member to MiS, but I am looking forward to participating in the activities and connecting with other mothers in STEMM, learning from them and hopefully providing some value as well!
7. What advice would you give to a mother in STEMM?
A friend of mine once told me how he had learned that your job does not have to be the end-all-be-all. Your career is important, but your value is not tied to a specific job. If something is not working out, it's not the end of the world to try something else. This happened when he switched from academia to industry, and then went back to academia with a different perspective. That helped me not take things as personally and go about my professional life in a lighter way. Your life, your family, those are constants and they should have much more impact than your job.
I would also tell a fellow mother in STEMM to make sure they have a support system - find a workplace and managers that value their time, find friends and other mothers that can help if you don't have family close by, and make sure to choose the best partner to parent with you! And do not be afraid to ask for help!