Dr. E. Mei Shen was born in Indonesia of Chinese parents. She grew up in different countries in Southeast Asia and received her medical degree in the Philippines. She came to the US for her postdoctoral training in Massachusetts lasting five years. After which, she left the United States for two years, returning to the US as an immigrant to begin a career in pathology lasting more than thirty years. Within these years, she details her experience in a field dominated by men, learning how to compete with them, and to fit in amiably. She was also a witness to the convulsive changes in healthcare.

Her personal life involved marriage, three children raised in the turmoil of finding reliable babysitters, managing different school schedules, and the emergence of the first-ever latchkey kids.

Despite the trials and tribulations of work and family, the journey has been worthwhile and gratifying.