This week, we talk with Ashani Weeraratna about her inspiring path from apartheid South Africa to director, professor and activist. Ashi cites good advice that she remembers “ read voraciously … and be engaged with the literature”She insists that mentoring is all about the trainees and hearing their individual needsAshi believes that diversity of thought needs diversity of population and stresses the importance of welcoming different groups into the labFor her, representation matters and it is key to achieving full equityShe also comments on the importance of the microenvironment (for cancer cells and for researchers)She shares her thoughts about juggling a life in two citiesAnd she encourages us to remember that “the most important trait is kindness”And Ashi concludes by telling us to enjoy the journeyShe mentioned these institutions, people and resources St. Mary's College of Maryland : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary%27s_College_of_MarylandGeorge Washington University : https://www.gwu.edu/Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center : https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_cancer_center/National Institutes of Health : https://www.nih.gov/Wistar Institute : https://wistar.org/University of Pennsylvania : https://www.upenn.edu/Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health : https://publichealth.jhu.edu/National Cancer Institute : https://www.cancer.gov/Steven Patierno : https://medicine.duke.edu/profile/steven-patiernoJeff Trent : https://www.tgen.org/faculty-profiles/jeffrey-trent/National Cancer Advisory Board : https://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/ncab/ncab.htmTo find out more about Ashi visit her websites or follow her on Twitter https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/3918/ashani-t-weeraratna https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/ashani-weeraratna https://research.jhu.edu/members/ashani-weeraratna/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashani_Weeraratna on Twitter : @AshaniTW “Is Cancer Inevitable?” by Ashi : https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12767/cancer-inevitable To find out more about Renaud : Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpreLinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/To find out more about Jonathan : Twitter : https://twitter.com/EpigenetiqueLinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20To learn more about the soundtrack : Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/ https://twitter.com/amariamusique