International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Female students and staff at the UCL School of Pharmacy have been at the forefront of national and international efforts to combat COVID-19, through education, research, pharmacy practice and engagement with the media and the public.

A few examples include:  

Oksana Pyzik (Lecturer & Global Engagement Lead) has given over 350 media interviews and public talks to explain the ever-changing COVID-19 rules and regulations in the UK and globally, delivered media training for academics, spoke at the WHO COVID-19 press conference and at the Independent SAGE press briefing on vaccine equity. She also continued “Fight the Fakes” regarding fake COVID vaccines and drugs.

Nadia Bukhari (Associate Professor) advocated the role of the pharmacist in national and international media and on major news channels, developed COVID-19 guidance for pharmacists and highlighted the rise in domestic violence in Pakistan. She also promoted gender equity in the global pharmaceutical workforce.

Bryony Dean Franklin (Professor) advocated vaccination, prepared vaccine doses both in her role as a pharmacist at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and as a volunteer at a mass vaccination centre, recorded a video for NHS staff on the Christian perspective on COVID vaccination, distributed lateral flow tests via her church and was a participant in a COVID vaccine trial.

Karen Leong (MPharm student) volunteered for government services and advocated vaccination to family and friends.

Antria Pavlidou (PhD student) advocated vaccination to patients, friends and family, informed the public via engagement with social media and answered questions on a phoneline in her home country, Cyprus.

Nusayba Ali (MPharm student), Diane Ashiru-Oredope (Honorary Lecturer) and Sudaxshina Murdan (Associate Professor) developed a Vaccination Champion course, to train students to promote vaccination in their communities. The course has been adopted by the University of North Carolina (UNC), UNC-Project Malawi, Monash University and Universite Paris-Saclay.  Nusayba, Diane and Sudaxshina also trained Community Engagement Officers in Public Health Local Authorities, and published a paper in the Pharmaceutical Journal to help pharmacy teams learn more about ‘How to address vaccine hesitancy’. The paper came 2nd in the Top 10 Pharmaceutical Journal Learning 2021.  Sudaxshina is also working on a vaccine.

Danni Dong, Xinyue Shi and Qian Wang (PhD students) conducted research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus to inform the development of new drugs.

Image: School of Pharmacy staff members celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Further Information:

• The Role of Pharmacists during Covid-19: Nadia Bukhari
• Developing guidelines Covid-19 guidance for pharmacists in Pakistan
• A step towards gender equity to strengthen the pharmaceutical workforce during COVID-19
• Pharmacists at the frontline beating the COVID-19 pandemic
• Research Article: Training university students as vaccine champions
• How to address vaccine hesitancy

Contact:

Dr Sudax Murdan