Cassie Kline (she/her), MD, Director of Clinical Research in Neuro-Oncology Group

Hi, I'm Dr. Cassie Kline. I'm one of the pediatric neuro-oncologists at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and more specifically I'm the Director of Clinical Research for the Neuro Oncology Group here. Within my role, I get the chance to focus on early phase clinical trials for children and young adults with tumors of the central nervous system, including the brain and the spine. This means that I help run studies identifying new or better ways to treat children and young adults with these diagnoses, and that may include new therapies or new ways to give old therapies.

Within my work, I'm driven by the patients and the families that I get to serve and work alongside. And I'm motivated on a daily basis by the families I meet in the clinic and in the inpatient floors. And I'm also extremely fortunate to work alongside multidisciplinary collaborative teams all over the globe.

And I get motivated by the energy and the multifaceted expertise that each one of my collaborators brings to our projects and brings to the research that we're putting forth for better therapies. In terms of advice that I would give to other gender minorities in STEM and, and really anyone in STEM, is the importance to always stay true and focused on your true north. And what I mean by that is really finding out what your mission is and what drives you and constantly coming back to that mission, even when there's missteps along the way or periods of self-doubt or lapses in self-confidence.

If you always come back to your true north, to what drives you, what motivates you, then you will not go wrong, and you will be able to be successful. I wish everyone in this career and in pursuit of STEM the very best of luck, and I thank you all for letting me share my insight today.