Raquel Deering knew she wanted to be a scientist as a young child. When she was 14, she called Paige Kaplan, a medical geneticist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and asked to visit to talk about her work. Kaplan agreed and was so impressed with Deering she took her on as an intern. For several years, Deering worked with a clinical fellow in a lab at the University of Pennsylvania and did clinical rounds with Kaplan at the hospital.
"Those super early influences in science were probably the most important," Deering said in an interview. "Science and math can...