Women in Science ft. Dr. Borsika Rabin
In our ongoing blog series spotlighting Women in Science, we are delighted to introduce our second guest, Dr. Borsika Rabin. Dr. Rabin is an Associate Professor and Founding Faculty at the UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, as well as ACTRI’s Co-Director of the UC San Diego Dissemination and Implementation Science Center (DISC).
With a profound expertise in dissemination and implementation science (IS), Dr. Rabin's research endeavors focus on improving population health outcomes by enhancing the adoption and implementation of evidence-based interventions. Her innovative approaches include the development of capacity-building tools such as the D&I Models in Health webtool and the ACCORDS D&I Science Certificate Program at the University of Colorado.
Dr. Rabin's journey from her roots in Hungary to her current role as a leader in public health research reflects resilience, determination, and a deep commitment to inclusivity. Through her experiences as an immigrant and a woman navigating the scientific community, she advocates for culturally sensitive mentoring and peer support networks to promote gender diversity and inclusion in STEM fields.
Join us as we delve into Dr. Rabin's insights, experiences, and vision for the future of implementation science in our exclusive interview. Her story serves as a beacon of inspiration for aspiring scientists and underscores the transformative impact of women and all individuals in driving positive change in our world.
- Can you share your academic titles and explain the area of science in which your research is grounded, as well as detailing the focus of your studies?
- I am an Associate Professor at the UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and the Co-Director of the UC San Diego Dissemination and Implementation Science Center (http://disc.ucsd.edu). I am implementation scientist and public health researcher, and my research focuses on improving population health outcomes in clinical and public health settings through co-creation with partners with the intent to increase the equitable reach, adoption, implementation, and sustained use of evidence-based interventions. Through my career, I developed and implemented novel capacity building approaches for implementation science including the D&I Models in Health webtool (https://dissemination-implementation.org/) and I serve as the Co-Director for the ACCORDS D&I Science Certificate Program at the University of Colorado (https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/accords/cores-and-programs/dissemination-implementation-science-program/d-i-certificate-program).
- Can you share your personal journey and experiences as a woman in science? What motivated you to pursue a career in your field?
My main motivation to pursue a career in science was emerging from my experience in my family in Hungary. My mother, while always available and around while I was growing up, had pursued a very meaningful career – spanning from serving as a science teacher, the director of a large dormitory providing home to middle and high school students who came to our town to study from the surrounding smaller towns and villages, becoming a clinical psychologist in her late 40s, and taking leadership role for the federal government to develop and guide important programming for social services agencies across Hungary. My father had a highly accomplished journey as a scientist, physician, and public health leader in Hungary. After retiring from serving as the Chief Medical Officer for the Hungarian Red Cross, he is still actively practicing medicine at age 85 in a full-time capacity in a specialty area (i.e., infectious disease medicine) which he added to his repertoire at age 75 to support the needs of our local hospital. My childhood was spent running around and playing hide and seek with my sisters and cousins in the buildings and surrounding grounds of our local hospital where many of our family members served as physicians. Medical topics and discussions about public health issues and health care were common in our home. My parents and because of them, us, the three daughters, were deeply inquisitive and passionate about science broadly and health-related questions more specifically.
I obtained a PharmD degree from Semmelweis Medical University (now Semmelweis University) in Budapest and developed a passion for public health research and practice, an unconventional path for someone who was trained as a PharmD. To complement my training, I started a PhD program in Public Health Sciences at Semmelweis under the guidance of a global thinker in the field, Professor Endre Morava. My scientific journey in the United States was a result of a joint CDC/World Health Organization funded training I attended in Austria where I met my first mentor from the United States, Dr. Ross Brownson. It is under his guidance that I completed a PhD and MPH in public health studies in St. Louis followed by seven years spent in Denver working with Dr. Russell Glasgow and the past eight years here in San Diego. I am mentioning all these individuals as they each served as key motivators and lampposts for me as I embarked on and continued this journey – taking me far away from home but never far away from the values I was raised with.
The common thread across my three primary mentors who all identify as men was that they were sensitive to my needs and complexities as a human being and were able to provide guidance and encouragement that considered my personal circumstances and honored who I was beyond my academic persona – a woman, a global citizen, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a wife, and a mother. Over the past two decades, I had many instances when these other identities needed to take priority and they always thrived to accommodate these natural shifts in life with great empathy.
Additionally, I am grateful for the unwavering support of my husband, a public health and primary care physician, who continually creates space for my career and passion for science in our marriage and family life and celebrates me, my daughter, and women broadly.
- What are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman in the scientific community, and how have you overcome them?
I think of my womanhood as one component of my complex human existence. I am also an immigrant, a person who has a noticeable accent when speaking in English, and someone who spent a substantial portion of her life -- including most of her education -- on a different continent, in a different cultural environment. The combination of these elements has led to a set of challenges as I engage in my scientific career in academia and in life more broadly. These challenges spanned from understanding how to preserve and bring my most authentic self to how I carry myself and make decisions while also respecting the culture of my new home country to standing in my truth when fairness was not honored by people with greater power. Most challenges that I experienced in these areas were addressed and facilitated through the kind and thoughtful help of caring mentors. Individuals who were willing to listen, advise, and do the right thing when action was warranted. I am standing (often unsteadily) on the shoulders of upstanding individuals (both those identifying as women and men) and for all of them – I am deeply grateful.
- What strategies or initiatives do you believe are effective in promoting gender diversity and inclusion in STEM fields?
I see the role of culturally sensitive mentoring as critical in advancing gender diversity and inclusion in our broader field. I see mentoring taking multiple shapes and in addition to our traditional mentoring models (i.e., researchers in a more advanced rank guiding earlier career scholars), peer mentoring has incredible promise and has been less systematically incorporated into our academic systems. In addition to my key mentors listed earlier, I many times benefited from the support I received from my peers, at as a student, an early-, and now as a mid-career researcher. In fact, the more I advance through the academic ranks, the more important the support of my peers has become. While I continue intentionally connecting with and greatly benefiting from traditional mentors, I am finding the wisdom and personal experience of my peers more and more relevant and essential for my well-being. I would like to see in our academic environment more structural support and a culture for engaging in peer mentoring both in terms of opportunities and expectations and rewards.
- Have you had any women mentors or role models who have inspired or supported you in your career? If so, how did they impact your journey?
My mom has always been my biggest inspiration in all matters in life including my scientific career. Regardless of the work environment and circumstances, being a teacher or a leader, she always found a way to hold on to her authentic self and reach back to her core values. She finds bravery in all circumstances to do the hard and right thing and she touched so many lives in a deeply positive and transformative way including the life of her three daughters. It also helps that she is a person with the most incredible sense of humor. I am blessed to continue to have her guidance in my life.
On the academic side, while most of my primary mentors happened to identify as men, I have been blessed with crossing paths and working with several (peer) mentors who identify as women and who inspired and lifted me throughout my career. Women (humans in general) who inspire me most possess a combination of deep passion and compassion. They are authentic and transparent in their humanity and intentional about uplifting others. They seek balance between their professional and personal life – I say seek as this seems like a constant process not a destination – and approach life with a sense of humor. They are all very different on the surface but when these core deep characteristics are present, I watch them closely and try to emulate them. Fortunately, I am surrounded by many of them in my current professional and personal life.
- What advice would you give to young women who aspire to pursue a career in science, based on your own experiences and insights?
I have a 14-year-old daughter who shares our family’s keen interest in science particularly in medical and health-related topics, so I have been pondering this question quite a bit! Yet, I don’t feel adequate to offer advice to this remarkable new generation of women. From my interactions with them, I see they possess an abundance of hope, confidence, and agency beyond what I could have imagined. What I wish for them is that they pursue a career path that fits with who they are. That they know that they can shape what a career in science looks like – there's no single 'correct' path, and more flexibility exists than meets the eye. I hope they will boldly bring their unique talents and wisdom to the table, influencing how science is conducted, which questions are posed, and how we engage with our communities and other partners. I eagerly anticipate witnessing how they will transform the landscape of science in the years to come!
Furthermore, I hope that future generations of women scientists remain interconnected as we continue to learn from one another. I firmly believe that the wisdom, experiences, and stories passed down from prior generations hold significance over time, fostering a supportive environment where we uplift and celebrate each other's successes and acknowledge our shared experiences of womanhood and humanity.
It is truly an honor to have the opportunity to share my journey and experiences as a woman in science. Thank you for this platform to contribute!
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Dr. Rabin's story serves as an inspiration to all aspiring scientists, especially women, showcasing the limitless possibilities that await those who dare to pursue their dreams.
Join us next week for our final feature, where we'll unveil another trailblazing figure in the world of science. Stay tuned for yet another captivating narrative that highlights the extraordinary contributions of women in shaping the future of science and innovation.
ACTRI Communications