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Dionne L. Stalling is a writer, editor, and master storyteller who is passionate about helping others use their experiences to tell their stories. After being diagnosed with common variable immune deficiency in 2014, Dionne lends her time and talents to various organizations where she is a rare disease advocate for people with chronic invisible illnesses such as primary immune deficiency, hidradenitis suppurativa and fibromyalgia. She has spoken as an advocate to congressional members on Capitol Hill, medical organizations and pharmaceutical companies. Dionne’s not so secret mission is to create a world where people with rare illnesses can be seen, heard and cured. She is a proud single mother of two, a music aficionado and a dark chocolate connoisseur. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org

Rachel Anderson is a Springfield native who graduated from Central High School.  She went on to attend the University of Missouri where she earned a degree in General Studies with emphases in business, communication and political science while also serving as Student Body President. Following graduation Anderson worked in both the admissions and development departments at the University of Missouri. In 2011 she relocated from Columbia, Missouri to Los Angeles, California where she oversaw marketing for global executive recruiting firm Morgan Samuels. Anderson returned to Springfield in 2014. She has since been recognized by Biz417 as “10 for the Next 10 in 2017” and as one of Springfield Business Journal’s “12 People You Should Know in 2018.” Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Rachel Anderson and the efactory: https://efactory.missouristate.edu

Dr. Cheryl Watkins-Moore is the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Accelerated Rehabilitation Technologies, LLC a technology development company focused in the rehabilitation market. Dr. Moore also currently serves as the Director, Bioscience Entrepreneurial Inclusion for BioSTL. In this role, Cheryl is responsible for creating processes and programming that will increase the mission impact of BioSTL and the regional bioscience ecosystem by improving the performance and contribution of underrepresented populations in the regional bioscience sector. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Dr. Watkins-Moore: https://dapinclusive.org/dr-cheryl-watkins-moore-mba/ Check out the Entrepreneurially Thinking Podcast: https://entrepreneuriallythinking.com

Lisa Nichols is the CEO and co-founder of Technology Partners, an award-winning, certified Women Business Enterprise that provides premier IT staffing and solutions across the United States. Lisa also hosts the podcast Something Extra, where she interviews leaders from around the world to share their stories and show us what it takes to influence, encourage, and be a true leader in our daily lives. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Lisa: https://technologypartners.net Check out the Something Extra Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/something-extra/id1438624921

Dr. Berkley-Patton is a professor in the UMKC School of Medicine’s Department of Biomedical and Health informatics. She received both her master’s degree in human development and family life, and a doctorate in developmental psychology HIV/AIDS at the University of Kansas. She joined the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2005 in a postdoctoral fellowship position founded by the National Institute of Mental Health in the Department of Psychology. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Dr. Berkley-Patton : https://med.umkc.edu/dir/Berkley-Patton-Jannette/

Cynthia Cappel My launched Black Girls Do STEM to change the face of STEM industry. As both black and a woman She has felt cultural isolated in STEM workplaces and want's to see more people liker her in the STEM industry.  Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Black Girls do STEM: https://bgdstem.com

Mitch Meyers made a name for herself, marketing for Anheuser-Busch and creating Spuds MacKenzie. Meyers is now CEO of medical marijuana dispensaries in Missouri, and Illinois. Meyers is an advocate for cannabinoid research and a champion for women in entrepreneurship.  Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Mich Meyers: https://www.beleafco.com & https://naturescarecompany.com

As the Founder/CEO of RISE Collaborative, Stacy Taubman launched a company that is changing the way women do business. RISE Collaborative Workspace has been featured in publications including NBC News, USA Today, Good Morning America, Bloomberg, and ELLE Magazine as a leader in the multi-billion-dollar coworking industry. Since opening in February 2017, RISE Collaborative’s growing membership includes 400 of some of the most impressive businesswomen in St. Louis and Denver. Dozens of members have reported business growth of 150% or more since joining RISE Collaborative, a true testament to the impact of women supporting women. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Stacey T: https://www.riseworkspace.com

Randi Foraker, PhD, MA, FAHA, is focused on applying epidemiology and informatics techniques to solve problems in the population health domain. She is the Director of the Center for Population Health Informatics (CPHI) at the Institute for Informatics (I2) and an Associate Professor of General Medical Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. As director of the CPHI, she aims to improve the health of the community through data and support data access, analytics, and dissemination efforts. Her own work specializes in the design of population-based studies and the integration of electronic health record data with socioeconomic indicators, and her research portfolio has been supported by a combination of governmental and industry grants and contracts. Her most recent research has focused on the application of clinical decision support to complement risk scoring in primary care, cardiology, and oncology. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Dr. Foraker: https://informatics.wustl.edu/research-lab-randi-foraker/

Natalie Self brings an extensive background in building a more equitable STEMSTL through cross-sector collective leadership, operationalizing equity frameworks for regional change, and national grant-making. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about STEMSTL: https://stemstl.org

Kelly Ranallo is a globally recognized rare disease advocate. Ranallo co-founded the RareKC Project in 2016 — a citywide effort to bring awareness and create collaborative solutions to the unique challenges faced by the rare disease community. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Turner syndrome: http://tsgalliance.org

Dr. Rahman is the Marion Merrell Dow/Missouri Chair in Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology; Section Chief, Therapeutic Innovation; Director of Innovation in Healthcare Delivery; Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Sue Rahman: https://www.childrensmercy.org/profiles/susan-abdel-rahman/

The Fit and Food Connection (FAFC) offers people living in food and fitness deserts access to free nutritious food, physical activities, educational workshops, and personal coaching to encourage and support healthy living. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about The Fit & Food Connection at: https://fitandfoodconnection.org/about/

Dr. Jennifer Silva is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in Pediatric Cardiology and the Director, Pediatric Electrophysiology at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Silva also cofounded SentiAR, a company turning medical scans into augmented reality simulations to assist surgeons in the operating room. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Dr. Silva and SentiAR at: https://sentiar.com

Carolyn Henry, DVM, MS is a the Dean of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Henry's research in oncology is leading to life-changing treatments for people and animals. She holds degrees from Eastern Kentucky University and Auburn University. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Carolyn Henry, DVM, MS at: https://cvm.missouri.edu/carolyn-henry-named-dean-of-the-college-of-veterinary-medicine/

Maxine Clark is a world renown entrepreneur and philanthropist. Clark founded Build-A-Bear Workshop in St. Louis, Missouri. She's the inspiration of the Delmar DivINe, and the CEO/Co-Founder of the Clark-Fox Family Foundation. Twice monthly WISER Conversations features Women leading the way in Science, Entrepreneurship, and Research. Dena Ladd, Executive Director of the Missouri Cures Education Foundation interviews inspirational women from Missouri, the Midwest, and around the world. Find out more about Missouri Cures at: https://missouricures.org Learn more about Maxine Clark at: https://clarkfoxstl.com/team/maxine-clark/ & https://www.buildabear.com/brand-about-story-founder.html & https://delmardivine.com/#