"One of the main responsibilities I feel for myself as a mentor, when I have students from different ethnicities, girls, is to essentially strengthen them. I tell them up front that this sort of stuff is going to happen, and there's going to always be somebody who will choose to discriminate against you for some reason or the other — but you have to stand up against it. When they are on their own they should feel emboldened and strong and be able to say, 'OK, this is not me. This is them, and I need to push back against any discrimination.'" (UnUmmagazine)

Meet Harshi! Dr. Harshini Mukundan who goes by Harshi, an #IfThenSheCan ambassador, microbiologist and team leader at the Los Alamos National Labs. Her work focuses on developing diagnostics of infectious diseases. She leads and participated in projects aimed at developing rapid detection and diagnostics assays for breast cancer, influenza, toxic panels, and others. In addition to her research, she excels in scientific and community outreach activities and mentoring and has received numerous awards and honors. She advocates for her treatments be accessible to all people, so that all people can be healthier and happier. Harshi wants to mentor the future minds of science and advocates for women and underrepresented groups in STEM.