Fujifilm Women4Women: second issue

As a tribute to the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, established by ONU and celebrated today 11th February, Fujifilm publishes the second issue of the magazine “Women4Women ”. Fujifilm has selected some female scientists across the world, of whom some work in the Fujifilm Group and others work as a partner.

We have always heard a story of development and innovation in a male narrative, and we all know the names of great scientists that we studied from primary school," says Luana Porfido, Head of Corporate Communication and Integration Chief FUJIFILM Europe GmbH. “There aren't many women who come to our minds: Ria Levi Montalcini, Marie Curie, of course, but if we mention Margot Lee Shetterly, or Katherine Jonson, Beatrix Potter, Tu Youyou... how many people know of their amazing works? Nevertheless, some of them are Nobel Prize winners. The right way is to start talking about them, emphasizing their jobs and their excellence, highlighting so many scientists who work today with us or for us - and for us I mean not only Fujifilm, but also for us as humanity - it´s a duty. 

A publication accompanied by reportage photos shot by photographer Valentina Tamborra who shares the stories of women around the world with her several projects.

Being both empathetic and driven is undoubtedly a talent. Chandana Sharma says she "started with strawberries" before becoming R&D Director of Bioproduction Cell and Gene Therapy at FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, wondering if she is not only a great scientist but also a great mum. For Cari Petrow-Sadowski, her passion for science was triggered during a summer camp when a student felt ill, prompting a subsequent diagnosis of leukaemia. Today, Cari is a Principal Scientist at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies and her friend from camp is now a pediatric oncologist. Heidi Franken explains her studies for RCPhC1 and her “eureka“ moment while conducting research at Fujifilm; a recombinant peptide biomaterial finding that "photography films and human bones have something in common: COLLAGEN.

Each woman tells her story with the same naturalness with which she explains her own research, all aware that female emotional intelligence and views of the world are perfectly connected with the new dynamics of scientific research, and knowing – as Boston MIT studies have shown – that the collective intelligence of a group (or organization) strongly depends on the social intelligence of the group. It was found that the group’s collective intelligence was correlated to the proportion of women in the group – the more women present, the more intelligent the group. This can be explained by the fact that it is known that women on average have a better social perceptiveness, or social intelligence, than men.

This is why women are usually those who choose part-time careers in order to combine their work with volunteering and encouraging young women to study STEM – such as LaToya Mayfield, a scientist who studies blood cells and has experience in forensic science, and is also the founder of GiSTEM (Girls impacting Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics).

But to talk about so much excellence and focus on their success, we need a new narrative, as Daniela Minerva – graduate in philosophy of science, popularizer and co-founder of the Women and Science Association, as well as director of the monthly SALUTE, a leading healthcare information platform in Italy – says. In the end, Nicoletta Ademollo, a biologist with a PhD in polar sciences explains her studies on ecotoxicology examined by monitoring organic micro-pollutants and the impact on the environment in Antarctica are at the center of current events. That is why Fujifilm is continuing this new narrative with Women4Women, a valuable insight and piece of knowledge.