Sasha Weiditch spends as much time in the lab as any other scientist, but on top of her work with bacteriophages and antibiotic resistance, she is a content creator who uses social media to promote and engage women in STEM. Surprisingly, Weiditch found that her time spent on Instagram has made her a better scientist. Sasha is a PhD Candidate, science communicator and digital content creator. Her research focuses on studying how proteins can regulate the mechanism of bacteriophage assembly. Bacteriophage are viruses that are specific to bacteria, meaning that if we can find a way to use them effectively, phage can work to kill bad bacteria that harm human health. Sasha uses techniques to look at the intricate workings of a molecule: how a protein folds, what it binds to, the temperature it works at and so much more are tiny details that can have a large impact.

Sasha is aware of the challenges that women face in pursuing scientific careers. Thus, through her social media pages, she shares her passion for engaging in and advocating for Women in STEM. Her goal is to promote science to girls, by sharing her experiences and engaging with excellent female scientists (PhDenomenal PhDemales) which demonstrate that science is cool and science is for everyone! This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx