Young Women in STEM Grant Recipient – Ludmila Kvasnovska

Clinical Researcher | Explorer of Novel Cancer Advancements | STEM Competition Winner

In 2020, Mary Kay launched the Young Women in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) grant program and social campaign to help shift the perception of “the face of science,” and encourage young women to pursue STEAM paths. Since then, we have awarded nearly 20 grants to young women in STEM.

Meet Ludmila Kvasnovska! Ludmila is a student working to make a difference in the #STEM community. She conducts research within healthcare that focuses on immunoregulation, liposomal treatment of breast cancer, and nanomedicine. Ludmila shares her experiences among high school students to motivate others to join the world of STEM. She believes women in STEM are essential to creating a more diverse field and bringing new perspectives and problem-solving skills to finding solutions.

Describe your STEM projects/interests.

Since last year, I had the opportunity to work on several very exciting projects. I have completed an internship focused on immunoregulation at the International Clinical Research Centre – ICRC. The research I conducted during this internship led me to win the national round of the Slovak Professional Award SOČ in the healthcare category and I certainly plan to attend other science competitions with this project. I furthermore graduated from CEITEC Student Talent Summer School focused on nanomedicine and liposomal treatment of breast cancer. Building upon this amazing experience, I continued to work on my own research at the same institution and managed to win the Festival of Science and Technology AMAVET. My greatest achievement so far was undoubtedly securing the 4th place award in Materials Science at the prestigious Regeneron ISEF. Currently, I am preparing for another science fair this autumn and sharing my experiences among high school students from my region to motivate them to join the amazing world of STEM as well. 

What/Who inspired you to get into STEM?

My greatest source of inspiration is my chemistry teacher Ing. Eva Körmendyová, PhD., who motivated me towards scientific activities, causing a snowball effect of me succeeding in several competitions. She has always been there to help me and for that she has my eternal gratitude.

What are some advantages you think being a female brings to the STEM field?

Embracing women is STEM is essential to create diversity within the field. A diverse environment brings more perspectives, innovative approaches, and unique ways of problem-solving to find solutions even for the greatest STEM challenges.

What would you tell young girls who are interested in STEM, but too intimidated or discouraged to pursue it?

To all the young girls interested in STEM, don’t get intimidated and discouraged from pursuing your dreams. STEM is an amazing field waiting for you to delve into it and reach your full potential.

What do you think is most exciting about the future of STEM, and is there a specific advancement you’d like to see happen?

For me, it is the ability to improve people’s lives. Since my area of interest is mainly clinical research, I am particularly drawn to see advancements in novel and innovative treatments of severe diseases such as cancer.

Who’s your favorite female icon and why?

It was hard to choose just one, but the person I look up to the most is Juliana Belková. She is an amazing high school healthcare teacher, poetry and drama author and one of the main figures to promote art, history and culture in my town. She puts passion into everything she does and that’s why I admire her.