Joan Steitz: A Pioneer in Science and Women's Empowerment

Born in 1941 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Joan Argetsinger Steitz is an influential figure in the world of science. Since college, she has dedicated her life to being a scientist and has made immeasurable contributions to current scientific knowledge. While pursuing her PhD, Joan Steitz was the only woman in her class. Ever since, she has continuously fought for women's empowerment in a world that, for most of her career, has been dominated by men.

When Joan started her journey she didn’t think she would ever become the head of a lab, let alone earn so many awards while competing against male colleagues. In fact, while she was an undergraduate, Joan decided to apply to medical school because, until that point, she had never seen a woman as a science professor or heading a lab. Therefore, Steitz felt she should become a physician, following the path of every woman she had seen working in science. Everything changed the summer before heading to medical school, when Steitz worked in Joe Gall's lab, where she was able to conduct her project and discovered her passion for scientific research. As a result, although she had already been accepted into the medical school program, she asked to switch to the biochemistry and molecular biology PhD program. From there on, through hard work, dedication, and passion she ended up heading her own lab at Yale University, thriving in her field of study.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, along with her student Michael Lerner, at Yale University, Joan developed the work for which she is best known: she discovered the RNA and protein components that make up snRNPs* (pronounced "snurps") and was able to characterize multiple key protein components required for their function. What are snRNPs? snRNPs (small ribonucleoproteins) are early products of DNA transcription that play a crucial role in the splicing process of excising the noncoding RNA regions (introns) of the messenger RNA. These findings about alternative splicing led to a better understanding of how a limited number of genes can produce a diverse range of complex protein products. For her important contributions to the field of molecular biology, Joan Steitz was awarded the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award in 1986.

Steitz has dedicated a lot of her time to mentoring young female scientists, something she believes is essential to bolster them in the field of science. She is living proof of what women can achieve in current times and encourages them through her successes and accomplishments. To this day, she is an outspoken figure in the fight for equal opportunities in scientific research.

Scientist, mentor, and role model. Joan Steitz has earned multiple awards as recognition of her work in research and mentorship, including the L’Oréal–UNESCO Award for Women in Science in 2001 and the US President’s National Medal of Science in 1986. Formally recognized for the guidance she provided generations of postdoctoral scholars at Yale University, she is a pioneer in science and women’s empowerment and a main figure in society.