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Meet Professor Lynette Sadleir What is your earliest memory of science? My father was a Professor of Zoology, so science and research has always been part of my life. I remember when I was 6 years old going camping with Dad and his PhD students. The aim of the trip was to capture fawns for their deer lactation research. What drew you to the field of science that you have come to work in? I have been extremely fortunate to have been trained by and worked with some incredibly bright and passionate physicians whose enthusiasm and dedication to the improvement of health has been contagious. Who do you look up to, whether they be in your field of work or not, and why? There are so many women in science, sport, and politics that I find inspiring. Women are an underappreciated and underutilised resource. They often work quietly in the background doing great things that are not recognised. How did you get to where you now are in your career, and what has been the biggest turning point or defining moment of your career? Following my undergraduate medical degree, I completed my paediatric basic advanced training in Wellington and then my advanced paediatric neurology training in Vancouver, Canada. After a paediatric epilepsy fellowship, I completed my doctorate on the clinical and EEG (electroencephalogram) features of absence seizures and began my research career. As a newly appointed sole paediatric neurologist and senior lecturer in Wellington 21 years ago, I had the potential to be academically and clinically isolated. Fortunately, one of the main defining moments in my career was when I met Ingrid Scheffer at the 1999 Epilepsy Society meeting in Australia. Ingrid and I became great friends and collaborators. She took me under her wing and mentored me. I effectively became part of her large epilepsy genetics research group at the University of Melbourne and we have spoken in person or on video conferencing on a weekly basis ever since! 18 Headlines