Monday, September 13, 2021 at 5:30 pm Central Time
Watch on this web page, MTC’s Facebook Page, or MTC’s YouTube Channel
FREE

Metro Theater Company presents a virtual panel discussion highlighting influential St. Louis region women in science in connection with our upcoming production of Digging Up Dessa.

Shreya Ahuja — Senior R&D Scientist
Mina Charepoo, MD — Psychiatrist
Caitlin Rankin, Ph.D, RPA — Research Geoarchaeologist and Assistant Scientist
Erica Wilson, CISSP, CISM — Cybertechnology Leader
Coleen Williams — Panel Moderator and Manager of General Ledger Reporting Corporate at Bayer

Send questions for our panelists to community@metroplays.org by September 10
or post them in the chat during the discussion.

Shreya Ahuja, a native of New Delhi, India, immigrated to the United States to attend Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana to obtain a Masters degree in Biotechnology with a certificate of business life sciences from the Kelley School of Business. Shreya currently works as a Senior R&D Scientist at MilliporeSigma in the Analytical Research and Development department. In her current role she is responsible for providing analytical support to biotechnology product and process development groups. Shreya has achieved many notable accomplishments in her tenure at MilliporeSigma including collaboration with a major pharmaceutical giant on developing a novel therapy to treat new patient populations. She was instrumental in establishing a multinational, 3-way collaboration with MilliporeSigma, a major biotech company in the U.S., and an international, world-class training institute in Dublin, Ireland. Within her group, Shreya is known as "the troubleshooting savior" after having solved several challenging problems in the lab. In 2019, Shreya was recognized by the St. Louis Business Journal as a 30 under 30 honoree for her professional and philanthropic achievements.

Mina Charepoo is a Pennsylvania native who completed her medical school at Drexel School of Medicine in Philadelphia, then moved to St. Louis in 2002 with her husband for her Psychiatry residency at Washington University in St. Louis. Since graduating from residency in 2007, Dr. Charepoo has been working as an inpatient psychiatrist for adults 18 years old and older. She is the Director of the Psychiatric Center Delmar Campus Washington University Psychiatric unit, a Commissioner for the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and has a civil forensic practice. Dr. Charepoo is also actively engaged with the St. Louis area Crisis Intervention Team. Dr. Charepoo and her husband are raising 3 children, 4 chickens, 2 cats, and 1 dog and are happy to call St. Louis, home. 

Caitlin Rankin is an Assistant Scientist and Research Geoarchaeologist at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey for the University of Illinois. She earned her BA as a double major in Anthropology and Geology from Beloit College in Wisconsin, and then completed her MA and PhD in Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. She has worked in the Artic, the Caribbean, Europe, and central Asia - but the Midwest always calls her back. She studies the relationship between past people and their environment, with an emphasis on how we can apply lessons from the past to address modern issues of climate change. Her research at Cahokia Mounds in the Metro East earned her the Richard Hay Award from the Geological Society of America and has received national attention from various media sources.

Erica Wilson has more than twenty years of IT experience. She has worked in various industries including manufacturing, higher education, financial services and most recently reinsurance. She has served in all capacities of security, including the role of Chief Information Security Officer. Erica is currently the VP of Global Security and Privacy Risk Management for RGA. In this role, she serves as a key advisor for the organization regarding technology risks and leads a dynamic team of professionals that ensure security and privacy issues are effectively addressed and managed. Learn more at her web site: ericamwilson.com.

Coleen Williams is an experienced accounting leader with over 15 years of experience driving globally high-impact, transformational projects across shared service, accounting, and finance. Coleen currently leads Bayer’s Corporate Accounting team where she collaborates between accounting, tax and treasury to ensure the timeliness, accuracy, and completeness of the financial statements for US corporate entities. Prior to Bayer (formerly Monsanto), Coleen worked within accounting at Smurfit Stone Container Corp and Edward Jones, and began her career with Deloitte & Touche as an external auditor. Coleen holds both a bachelors and masters in Accounting from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a degree in Global Shared Services from The Hackett Group. In addition to being a licensed CPA she is also a Six Sigma Green Belt.