Kidney specialist encourages young women to make their careers in STEM fields

Pursuing medicine wasn’t always Dawn Caster’s plan for herself. She didn’t start college on the “pre-med” track. Instead, she obtained dual undergraduate degrees in nutrition and sociology. She became more interested in medicine as she progressed through college because she enjoyed both her science and humanities courses.

“I think that medicine is a great intersection of science and humanities,” she said.

A University of Louisville School of Medicine alumna, Caster is a physician scientist who specializes in nephrology (kidney diseases), specifically glomerular diseases, which are autoimmune kidney diseases. She serves as an associate professor and the co-director of research for the UofL Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. Caster is a recognized researcher in the field of glomerular diseases, with a translational lab that is focused on identifying novel biomarkers in lupus nephritis and evaluating mechanisms of inflammation in lupus nephritis.

Many components inspired Caster’s motivation to pursue clinical medicine. Her mother was a teacher who encouraged her from a young age to pursue an education and a career. Her decision to specialize in nephrology was motivated by both her mother’s diagnosis of kidney disease and the many strong role models and mentors in the division.

“I was fortunate to have exposure to many amazing female faculty members,” Caster said.

Caster highlighted Eleanor Lederer (former interim chair of medicine at UofL School of Medicine and former president of the American Society of Nephrology) and Rosemary Ouseph (chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension) as faculty who directly inspired her to pursue academic medicine. 

The passion for research came to Caster later from a patient interaction during her training. During her nephrology fellowship, she encountered a young patient with lupus nephritis who ended up in kidney failure at 18 years old.

“I was frustrated with the outcome and wanted to understand more about the disease,” Caster said.

Soon after, she became involved in a research project on lupus nephritis and the project evolved into her scientific career. 

Caster hopes to make a difference for young girls pursuing a career in science or medicine. She highlighted the importance for young girls to have role models in their chosen career fields, as she did.

“It is critical for girls and young women to see successful women in science so that they can know this is possible for them,” Caster said.

Caster hopes to see more young women and girls taking up space in the science and medical fields.

“When I was younger, I was often worried about making the 'wrong' choice or failing at something,” Caster said. “I also hope that they will be inspired to speak up more, ask more questions and not be afraid of failure.”