Fil-Am doctor among six COVID-19 frontliners honored with Barbie collection
Mattel is honoring six women in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) field who made impressive ripple effects during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The limited-edition collection features Professor Sarah Gilbert, the leader of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine development; Amy O'Sullivan, the nurse who treated the first COVID-19 patient in Brooklyn; Fil-Am doctor Audrey Sue Cruz, psychiatry resident Chika Stacy Oriuwa, Jaqueline Goes de Jesus, who led the COVID-19 genome sequencing in Brazil; and Kirby White, a doctor who founded an initiative to provide washable PPEs to fellow doctors in Australia.
Cruz and Oriuwa also represent the fight against Asian-American hate in the United States.
"Barbie recognizes that all frontline workers have made tremendous sacrifices when confronting the pandemic and the challenges it heightened," shared Dolls at Mattel VP, Lisa McKnight.
"To shine a light on their efforts, we are sharing their stories and leveraging Barbie's platform to inspire the next generation to take after these heroes and give back."
The doll company also released more STEM-themed careers for Barbie in 2019, including an entomologist, astrophysicist, wildlife conservationist, and marine biologist.
The doll collection serves as a non-for-sale item for now, as they were personally delivered to each doctor for their services amid the pandemic.
Sue Cruz posed alongside her custom doll with an inspiring message for her followers.
"This doll is a reminder that it doesn’t matter what your skin color is or what background you come from," the Fil-Am doctor shared. "Cheers to diversity. And cheers to frontline workers all over the country who have fought and continue to fight this pandemic."
Photo from Instagram / Audrey Sue Cruz and Barbie