Scientist, game-changer, women's equality champion

Dr. Barbara Iglewski, director of international programs at the University of Rochester Medical Center, was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2015. I had the honor of writing about the Gorham resident's life, research and accomplishments at that time. I've remembered every word she said in our interview.

Dr. Iglewski's landmark discovery that "pathogenic bacteria communicate with each other through a system known as quorum sensing showed howthis system is a global regulator of virulence in humans." Her work served as the foundation for an entire field of study into how this system works across the various types of bacteria, and several drugs that interrupt the bacterial communication process, thereby preventing infections, have been developed based on her work. She became the first woman to lead a department at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, chairing the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University from 1986 to 2009.
That's all enormously impressive, but more so to me is the fact that she directly and systematically empowered other brilliant women scientists to receive research funding, which allowed them to publish their findings and eventually command (more) equal compensation as male colleagues doing the same work.

She has made huge contributions to science and medicine, but also to women's equality. I love that she worked within an unfair system, legitimately earned respect and leadership responsibilities and changed the trajectory of inequality in the workplace.

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