​Women in Biotech with Illumina

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Webinar panel including 3 women scientists working in biotech.

Panelists include:

​Erika Weisdorfer is a Software Test Engineer currently working with the NovaSeq instrument. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering Physics from Point Loma Nazarene University and anticipates graduating this fall from Johns Hopkins University with a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering. In her spare time, she likes to play tennis, volunteer, and take care of her cats. In addition to working and going to school full time, Erika and her husband also run a small computer and electronics repair business, for which Erika manages the web design, backend web development, and some repair services. From a young age, she has been passionate about working with technology and hopes to inspire others to pursue careers in STEM.

Elizabeth Bottenberg is a recent graduate from UC San Diego and received her bachelor’s degree in General Biology with a focus on Global Health. After graduation, she performed COVID-19 PCR testing during the pandemic and was recently hired by her dream company, Illumina Inc., as a quality control analyst. Her dream job is to become a genetic counselor and support the female experience around reproductive disease. Ultimately, she hopes her career in science encourages more young women to pursue STEM-related fields! She is in the process of completing an Applied Bioinformatics certificate where she is learning Python and other programming languages to process large amounts of genetic data. In her free time, she loves to snuggle with her pugs and drive top-down in her convertible.

Gandarilla, Shastina
​Robotics, biology, and programming… oh my!
Sounds like a lethal combination, but my fellow mad scientists turns out that it is the most fun career I have ever had.
When I began college, I was full of ideas and dreams of doing genetic research in an attempt to create glow-in-the-dark puppies!
However, once I made it to the bench, I started discovering ways to make things faster, more efficient and how I could help automate the science. Speeding up the discoveries and research became my new goal! The puppies would have to wait a little longer.
Discovering that I could work in science, break down some barriers, and not be limited to what some described as ‘traditional roles’, I pursued my dreams with fervor! I can chase my dreams by tapping into my unique and creative skills.
Now I’m living my dream, working at Illumina. I program robots, sample new automations like robotic arms, and integrated liquid handlers. This allows other scientists to do more data analysis and less pipetting.