Snapshots
AstroKate Inspires Young Scientists During STEM Panel, NCATS Tour
Women in Leadership Discuss Challenges, Successes in Work and Life
BY TERRY RUDD, NCATS
NCATS landed NASA Astronaut Kathleen “Kate” Rubins for an inspiring day of scientific career discussions and a firsthand look at NCATS’ earthbound and space-tested biotechnologies.
Popularly known online as “AstroKate,” Rubins has flown two space-flight missions, logged 300 days in space, and conducted four spacewalks. Her tour of NIH included visits to NCATS and NHGRI labs. At NCATS, she joined the NCATS Women in Science Leadership Panel discussion (available on VideoCast) with an all-women panel of NIH institute directors and Women in Science Diplomacy Association members. NCATS Director Joni Rutter sat down with Rubins for a fireside chat to talk about her experiences in space and beyond. The panel members then shared their own career journeys in science, technology, engineering, and medicine. They also offered valuable insights to inspire the next generation of women shaping scientific research and innovation.
Rubins and her scientific colleagues then traveled to NCATS’ Rockville, Maryland, state-of-the-art laboratories, where they talked tech and shared insights with intramural scientists doing 3D tissue bioprinting, high-throughput drug screening, compound management, and more.Rubins is no stranger to NCATS-supported translational science technology—on earth or in orbit. While aboard the International Space Station, she worked with tissue-chip experiments as part of the NCATS-led Tissue Chips in Space initiative.
“We were truly over the moon to have Dr. Kate Rubins with us,” said NCATS chief punsmith Rutter. “She is a true star.”
This page was last updated on Friday, January 3, 2025