11 years ago today, I lost my mom to breast cancer. Today I fight for @PayEquityNow in her name, through @ManglonaLab Some recently found footage of my mom the summer before college on our home island of Rota (aka Luta). Future reproductive endocrinologist youtube.com/watch?v=F87Wdj…

You miss my mom too, though you probably don’t know it. She was a scientist - remarkable for a woman in her generation, let alone coming from such a remote place & being a Native Chamorro woman. If you’ve ever had fertility treatments, you likely owe my pioneering mom thanks.

What many don’t know about fertility treatments is that many stem cell lines that are essential to advance many other areas of research are derived from donated embryos. When restrictions on new stem cell lines were passed, only existing lines could be used for further study.

My mom as an early fertility specialist created many of those essential stem cell lines for other medical research, fueling breakthroughs that will continue. I hope someday cancers like hers will be eradicated, possibly in part due to advancements using the cell lines she made.

We all owe my mom special thanks, for all the babies she made to complete families, for the advancements she pioneered, & legacy she left for other scientists to follow. Don’t ever underestimate people from underdeveloped places. Genius is evenly distributed. Opportunity is not.