La Trobe University immunologist Dr Emma Grant has been selected as one of just 60 female and non-binary researchers from across Australia to participate in the prestigious Superstars of STEM 2025-26 program.
Announced on 11 December by Federal Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic, the program will see the cohort, who work in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), receive career support, advanced communications training and opportunities to become highly visible media and public role models.
Dr Grant, whose research focuses on the immune system’s response to influenza, said she was honoured to be chosen for the program and looked forward to having new opportunities to share her research, as well as her experiences as a woman in a STEM career.
“I think it’s really important that female and gender-diverse scientists are visible so that we can help champion others and promote diversity and inclusivity in this field,” Dr Grant said.
“What I would love to achieve from this is to be visible to those who perhaps feel unseen – whether that’s as a woman, as a mother, as a scientist – and help show them some of the diversity we have in science.”
Established in 2017, the Superstars of STEM program has sought to tackle gender inequity by featuring diverse role models in the media as experts in STEM.
Since its inception, the program has helped raise the profile of 270 female and non-binary scientists and has helped them network, share their science both in media appearances and with more than 85,000 school students.
Dr Grant said the gender disparity in science meant visible role models for women and non-binary people considering a career in science were incredibly important.
“As a woman and as a mother who is trying to make a scientific career work, I’m really passionate about sharing my experience with others and highlighting the challenges women can face in this career,” she said.
Dr Grant said she hoped the opportunity to participate in the program and learn how to communicate more effectively would help her have more impact.
“I’m looking forward to communicating my influenza immunology research and my experiences as a woman in STEM, but also to help champion others and advocate for diversity and inclusivity,” she said.
Dr Grant is a postdoctoral researcher and group leader in Professor Stephanie Gras’s lab at the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMS) and the School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment (SABE).
Find out more about Dr Grant here.
