Zeena Nackerdien is a dual US and South African citizen. She obtained a PhD degree in Biochemistry from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Zeena has been a research chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland and a senior research associate at The Rockefeller University in New York. She is the author of several publications in scientific journals and a book chapter on topics ranging from biomarkers for oxidative damage to perspectives on the associations of microbes with breast cancer. As a scientist turned patient advocate and writer, she is intensely interested in building relationships with people from different cultures through storytelling and education. Zeena currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.