Tuesday 8th March 2016, 10.30 am – 3.00pm
Kanaris Lecture Theatre, Manchester Museum,
The University Of Manchester,
Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL
Sign up with eventbrite: http://tinyurl.com/becomingthebest
Becoming the best is a programme of events designed to provide a platform for Women in Science and Engineering to discuss strategies that help in advancing their careers. The day will start with a panel debate focusing on personal case studies and an open discussion with the audience. After a networking lunch, we will gather again for a further panel debate with audience participation on lessons learnt from other successful women and how we can develop or adopt various habits/strategies to advance our own careers.
10.30 am: Welcome and Introduction- Dr Hema Radhakrishnan
10.35 am to 12 noon: Panel Debate 1 – Roads to Success: Personal case studies
A panel debate looking at the ‘Roads to Success’ for today’s young female scientists
Panellists:
Ms. Lopa Patel MBE (moderator), Founder & CEO of Diversity UK
Dr. Heather Williams, Senior medical physicist for Nuclear Medicine at Central Manchester University Hospitals , Director of ScienceGrrl.
Dr Nermeen Varawalla, Executive Vice President, Lambda Therapeutic Research & Chief Scientific Officer.
Dr Santosh Bhanot, Chair of Asian Circle, a charity to help support vulnerable and poor women in the Indian Subcontinent.
Professor Susan Kimber, Co-Director NWESCC,Faculty of Life Sciences,
University of Manchester.
12 noon: Diversity UK – Ms. Lopa Patel MBE
12.05 pm to 1pm: Networking Lunch
1 pm to 2.30pm: Panel Debate 2 – Lessons Learnt
A chance to discuss the lessons learnt from other successful women and how one can strike the right balance.
Panellists:
Prof. Amanda Bamford (moderator), Associate Dean for Social Responsibility, Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester.
Ms. Angela Saini, science journalist, author and broadcaster, American Association for the Advancement of Science journalism award winner.
Prof. Amrita Ahluwalia, Deputy Director, The William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Prof. Aline Miler, Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of Manchester.
Prof. Teresa Anderson, Director of the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, University of Manchester.
2.30pm-3pm: Keynote Lecture – Prof. Teresa Anderson, Director, Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, The University of Manchester
Speaker Biographies
Dr Hema Radhakrishnan
Hema is a Senior Lecturer in Optometry and Deputy Associate Dean for Social Responsibility in the Faculty of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester. Hema’s research focuses on the optical abnormalities of the human eye particularly looking at the changes in the eye with ageing. She was award the Neil Charman Medal in 2015, which is the most prestigious research excellence award given by the College of Optometrists. She chairs the equality and diversity leadership team at the Faculty of Life Sciences. Hema is involved in several public engagement activities encouraging girls to engage with science.
Lopa Patel MBE
Lopa Patel is a digital entrepreneur with a lifelong love of science and technology and an evangelist for STEM, innovation and bridging the skills gap in business. A biochemistry graduate from UMIST, she started her career with Imperial Chemical Industries before setting up the direct marketing services company DMS Direct Ltd at the age of 25. She went on to to create the online South Asian websites NewAsianPost.com, Redhotcurry.com and ecommerce website TheRedhotshop.com. Lopa is also the Founder & CEO of equality and inclusion think tank Diversity UK and holds a number of Non-Executive directorships and Trustee positions. She was honoured with an MBE for services to the creative industries in 2009. In 2014, she was named in the ‘50 Most Incredible Women in STEM’ list and last year she was awarded the University of Manchester Outstanding Alumna Award and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion 2015.
Dr Heather Williams
Dr Heather Williams is a senior medical physicist for Nuclear Medicine at Central Manchester University Hospitals and honorary Lecturer at the University of Manchester, and has a particular interest in positron emission tomography (PET) and remains active in imaging research. Heather is also a Director of ScienceGrrl, STEMNET ambassador, chair of the Women in Physics Group at the Institute of Physics and secretary to the UK PET Physics Group. Heather also likes standing up and talking about science, and encouraging others (particularly women) to do so. When she’s not busy with all that, Heather enjoys running, hiking and introducing her sons to the wonders of the universe, often at the same time.
Dr Nermeen Varawalla
Dr Nermeen Varawalla is a successful entrepreneur in the biomedical sector. Originally from India, Dr Varawalla has a background in clinical medicine and has trained at the Universities of Oxford and Mumbai. She holds a DPhil in Clinical Medicine from the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine and an MBA from INSEAD. Nermeen’s area of expertise is executing global clinical trials for new drug development and she has established and sold businesses in this sector. Most recently she founded ECCRO, an India specialist clinical trials business. She is currently employed as Executive Vice President, Lambda Therapeutic Research & Chief Scientific Officer, Accord Healthcare Europe, Intas Group, a 400 employee, multinational, full service, contract research organisation.
Dr Santosh Bhanot
Santosh Bhanot has worked as a Senior Scientist for Procter and Gamble (P&G), spending over 20 years in HealthCare Medicines Development and later a HealthCare Global Professional Communications role. She has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and has worked as a Research Fellow at King’s College London and Nottingham University in the field of Biological Sciences. She is now Chair of Asian Circle, which aims to help support vulnerable and poor women in the Indian Subcontinent. Santosh’s interests lie in education, health and well-being and she serves as a Trustee for Ealing Music Therapy, a charity helping children with special educational needs.
Prof. Amanda Bamford
Amanda is a Professor of Plant Science and Associate Dean for Social Responsibility in the Faculty of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester. She was a researcher in atmospheric pollution and climate change and has been teaching at the University of Manchester since 1996. She is Chair of the Faculty of Life Sciences’ Athena SWAN self-assessment team. She has been the North West’s BBSRC schools community coordinator and BBSRC Schools champion for the last 7 years, obtaining funding from RCUK, Royal Society, BBSRC and others to run a wide range of public engagement events.
Angela Saini
Angela Saini is an award-winning English science journalist, author and broadcaster. Her first book ‘Geek Nation: How Indian Science is Taking Over the World’ which was published in 2011 by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, and by Hachette in the Indian sub-continent, became a bestseller in India. She is currently writing a new book about women and sexism in science, which will be published by Harper Collins in 2017. Angela has been published in Science, Wired, The Guardian and New Scientist and is a frequent presenter on BBC radio. This year she won a prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science journalism award, and between 2012 and 2013 she was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Angela has a Masters in Engineering from the University of Oxford and a second Masters in Science and Security from King’s College, London.
Prof. Amrita Ahluwalia
Amrita is Professor of Vascular Pharmacology at William Harvey Research Institute. The first woman in its 40-year history to receive the GlaxoSmithKline Prize in Clinical Pharmacology, Amrita’s research focuses on new prevention therapies for hypertension, using dietary interventions as well as pharmacology. Hypertension is a growing global epidemic affecting 1 billion people, thought to be responsible for 50% of all acute myocardial infarction which is the single biggest cause of mortality in the UK. Amrita’s finding that common foodstuffs such as beetroot can lower systemic blood pressure is likely to have a significant impact globally. “It was an extraordinary finding and captured the attention of the media as well as her scientific colleagues… not only a role model for women in science but for men also!” Roderick Flower, Professor of Biochemical Pharmacology. To support other women in the profession, Amrita established a Prize for Excellence in Pharmacology for Women, developed a mentoring scheme for the British Pharmacological Society and is campaigning for medical research charities to improve the position for women winning fellowships to take maternity leave. Amrita won the WISE research award in 2015
Prof. Aline Miller
Aline is Professor of Biomolecular Engineering at University of Manchester. Aline’s research is focused on high quality science and its translation for human health. A key aim is to understand the underlying physics of self-assembling systems and apply such knowledge to design innovative materials for use within medical therapy, tissue regeneration and diagnostic fields. One significant achievement of Aline’s team is the development of a patented platform technology for the design of biomaterials which is now being commercialised through her spin-out company. Subject to clinical trials, this technology could treat 475,000 patients worldwide and reduce public health costs of £4.7 billion. “She is firmly on track to translate her research into the clinic where it will make a transformative difference to people’s lives” says Professor Mike Sutcliffe, Head of the Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science School. She was shortlisted for WISE research award 2014.
Prof. Teresa Anderson
Teresa Anderson is Director of the University of Manchester’s Discovery Centre at Jodrell Bank, a Centre that she was responsible for creating and now leads. The Centre’s mission is ‘to inspire the scientists of the future’ – it has over 160,000 visitors each year, including 16,000 school children who participate in a curriculum-linked Education programme.
The Centre takes innovative approaches to engaging people with science, including the ‘Live from Jodrell Bank’ science –music festivals and the ‘Girls Night Out’ events which encourage girls to choose to study STEM subjects to higher levels.
Teresa is an alumna of the University, having done her first degree in Physics at Manchester. She also has a PhD in Electrical Engineering, and has spent many years working in Science Policy and Engagement with organisations such as NESTA and Practical Action. In addition to her role at Jodrell Bank, is also currently Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Daphne Jackson Trust, which is the UK’s leading organisation dedicated to realising the potential of scientists and engineers returning to research following a career break.
In 2013 she was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to Astrophysics. In 2014 she was awarded the Institute of Physics Kelvin Medal for Public Engagement with Physics and in 2015 she was made an Honorary Professor in the University of Manchester’s School of Physics and Astronomy.
Equality and Diversity at The University of Manchester 