Content expertise: genetics, personalized medicine, cell biology, the immune system, viruses, applied energy (how we use it in daily life), exhibit technology and digital integration in exhibits, women in science.

Patricia Ward, Ph.D., provides broad science and general content leadership across the Museum’s exhibition work, ensuring its scientific integrity and alignment with MSI’s overarching strategic plan. In this role, Dr. Ward oversees the work of exhibition development and production teams comprising project managers, content and experience developers, media producers, designers, and writers. In her 22 years at the Museum, she has also produced exhibitions on various science topics including genetics, health, energy, and climate change.

Dr. Ward cultivates partnerships with external experts and community organizations to bring current, relevant science and technology content to MSI’s public and school audiences and to bring MSI’s work to the community. These partnerships include university researchers, national laboratories, industrial partners, non-profit organizations, and peer institutions.

Dr. Ward earned a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Chicago and was a NIH post-doctoral fellow in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago before joining the Museum in 1999. She was a 2012 Noyce Leadership Institute Fellow and is a fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.