Erin Young hopes that one day it won’t be interesting to her daughters that their mother is a scientist.

Young is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing and in UConn Health’s Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, as well as the assistant director of UConn’s Center for Advancement in Managing Pain (CAMP). She’s also one-half of a pain research power couple, who runs her lab alongside husband Kyle Baumbauer, a UConn assistant professor of nursing and neuroscience.

In addition to researching the ways genetics impact the ways people feel pain – and trying to pinpoint gene expressions that could lead to precision treatments – Young is outspoken about what it’s like to be a woman in STEM and in academia, and how things are changing for women in that world and in society at large.

She recently sat down with UConn 360’s Julie Bartucca for a wide-ranging discussion about her research, the importance of research communication, and why she can’t wait for people to stop asking about what it’s like to be a woman in her field.

Listen to the podcast:

For full episodes of the UConn 360 podcast, visit uconn.edu/uconn360-podcast.