For Immediate Release
Oak Brook, IL (May 11, 2026) – The Society of Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) New Matter Podcast Announces New Series: Thrive in Science: Women’s Leadership Edition.
Madeline M. Farley, PhD
Ginger Cooper
New Matter is excited to announce the new Thrive in Science: Women’s Leadership Edition podcast, following the inaugural Thrive in Science: A Women’s Leadership Forum, which took place on February 12, immediately following the SLAS2026 International Conference and Exhibition in Boston. The monthly series will spotlight women in science leadership roles and the impact they are making across the industry.
“We saw the power of this group really hit its stride during the open networking sessions. Even at the end, they didn’t want to leave because the momentum of the forum was in full swing. Seeing everyone sharing their stories and finding solutions to their challenges was really inspiring,” said SLAS CEO Vicki Loise.
The podcast will be hosted by Ginger Cooper, CEO and Founder of Summit Success Group and a proactive member of the SLAS community, and SLAS Scientific Director Madeline M. Farley, PhD.
Our hosts shared their inspiration behind the podcast and what listeners can look forward to.
Highlighting women’s accomplishments and ensuring people are aware of their successes in STEM is a shared passion. There is also a strong value in connecting with incredibly smart people, and this podcast creates an opportunity not only to lift women up but also to meet and learn from brilliant women across the field.
This is important not just right now, but always. The field is still male-dominated, and women’s achievements can too often be overlooked. Providing a platform to raise these voices helps move toward equity.
This is also tied directly to building a strong, sustainable workforce across the SLAS community. The talent and impact are already here; this is about making those contributions more visible so others can see what is possible and feel confident defining and stepping into their own paths.
The SLAS community is made up of a wide variety of skill sets and career paths, so it will be great to highlight those who are advancing science through hardware, data sciences and AI, as well as those making progress in sample management, research and engineering roles.
An appreciation for women in STEM and the work being done to progress scientific and technological innovation. The hope is also that listeners hear these stories and recognize themselves in them, seeing real examples of women already doing impactful work and understanding that there is not just one path to contributing meaningfully.
A deep dive into women at all levels in STEM, from established leaders in their fields to early-career scientists. The series will explore how they chose their paths, what drives their excitement for their work, and the challenges they are actively solving.
Listeners can find this new series published under the SLAS New Matter podcast feed – available on all major podcast apps. Subscribe to New Matter on your podcast player of choice to download the first episode of Thrive in Science: Women’s Leadership Edition when it premieres on May 14th by visiting https://slas.buzzsprout.com/951535/follow.
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SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening) is an international professional society of academic, industry and government life sciences researchers and developers and providers of laboratory automation technology. The SLAS mission is to bring together researchers in academia, industry and government to advance life sciences discovery and technology via education, knowledge exchange and global community building.
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Jill Hronek
Director of Marketing Communications
Telephone: +1.630.256.7527, ext. 103
E-Mail: jhronek@slas.org
