“Science is awesome.”

Dr. Helena Ledmyr is a science communicator from Sweden, with a doctorate in genetics. As Head of Development and Communication at INCF (a non-profit organization advancing neuroinformatics and global collaborative brain research), Helena coordinates all communications activities, and manages strategic development initiatives. INCF has a great international community, and she particularly enjoys to interact with people from all over the world with many different specialties and interests.

Beyond her work with INCF Helena is passionate about communicating science to the public. She wants people to have an understanding of science so they can make well-informed decisions about issues concerning health, the environment, and the way they treat other people – and she has a pet peeve with pseudoscience. She is the vice chair of the Swedish Network for Science Communication (@forskom), and one of the moderators for @RealScientists.

background

Helena became interested in science through her grandpa. She spent her childhood summers learning everyday physics, botany, entomology, etc. from him, by watching lightning storms, helping taking care of his big garden, and observing all kinds of bugs.

After high school Helena chose the molecular biology program at Stockholm University because it mentioned DNA and Jurassic Park (true story). She then ended up in a genetics lab for her PhD, which, she says, was a lot of fun. After running out of funding during a postdoc researching gene therapy methods, Helena decided to get out of academia and do something else. She found job as a science administrator and communicator at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, where she stayed for three years. She has been working for INCF since 2010.