International Women’s Day 2024: Contributions from the UCL School of Pharmacy

Female students and staff at the UCL School of Pharmacy are contributing for the betterment of the world through their teaching, research, collaborations, professional services and outreach activities. A few examples of the work they are most proud of: 

Professor Cate Whittlesea (Director), is proud of the recently published randomised clinical trial linked to the use of Acamprosate post-alcohol detox. She was involved in the writing of the NIHR HTA grant and also pitched the role of the pharmacist in this intervention to the Principal Investigator. It was a large multi-centred trial, where she worked as the pharmacy lead with a large group of multidisciplinary researchers over many years. The trial had a positive outcome.  CW also edits Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, a core textbook for pharmacy students and early career pharmacists and healthcare professionals. She has coedited this book from the 4th edition onwards. She talks about the wonderful feedback from students and pharmacists across the world and about how the book helped their learning makes it all worthwhile. 

Professor Bryony Dean Franklin is proud of writing and editing a textbook on medication safety, while also working and being a parent! Her career path to her current role has involved a variety of clinical, research, leadership and editorial roles, combining her passions for science, clinical practice and dissemination of research findings.  She has been very fortunate in working with some great colleagues, and mentors, both male and female, who have inspired and encouraged her at every stage.

Professor Lawrencia Louise Brown is particularly proud of the MPharm Year 4 student simulations at GreenLight Pharmacy. The theme is "Bringing it all together". They are designed to allow students to apply a wide range of their pharmacy practice knowledge, skills and behaviours by running a pharmacy in teams. It allows them to gain a clearer understanding of their readiness for working in practice when they graduate, to gain an appreciation of how they work together with others to deliver patient care, and reflect on how they work under pressure. Every simulation they run is different and the lessons students learn from it are varied and personal to them. It relies on the great team at GreenLight to deliver. It has won an award for Educational Innovation.

Professor Afia Ali is proud of her contribution to our understanding of the mechanisms of synaptic communication in health and in Alzheimer’s disease and of her leadership in implementing inclusive strategies to improve educational standards as Faculty of Life Science BAME Awarding Gap Lead.

Professor Mine Orlu is honoured to be part of the World Economic Forum’s Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2021 and 2023 Steering Group, and co-author of these reports featuring technologies with potential impact on people, the planet, prosperity, industry and equity.

Dr Zoё Waller is proud of the recent work completed by her group that shows that natural variations in DNA sequences within the insulin gene form differing DNA structures. The work is interdisciplinary and combines computational modelling, crystallography, different types of biophysical characterisation and experiments in cells. The outcomes of this work revealed the detail in formation of these DNA structures, and provide new opportunities to design drugs for these targets which could be used to develop new treatments for diabetes or cancer. She is also pretty proud of her crocheted DNA models, which she uses both in teaching and her outreach and public engagement activities.

Dr Sudaxshina Murdan is proud of increasing the conversion about religion; a topic that is often taboo at work. She is the UCL Faculty of Life Sciences Lead for EDI Religion and Belief Equality. Related to the International Women’s Day, she is investigating the sublingual route of vaccination.  When vaccines are given by placing them under the tongue, they generate immune responses in the vagina.  This can help to prevent infections that are transmitted sexually or vertically (i.e. from the mother to the baby during vaginal birth). She is also starting some research in recurrent vulvo-vaginal candidiasis.

Dr Maria Jose Martinez Bravo loves supervising MSc dissertations and to witness the development of students to become true researchers in the fields they decide to start becoming specialists.

Victoria Robertson (Deputy Librarian) is helping provide evidence to contribute to UCL Library Services achieving the Customer Services Excellence Award and also working with the team of staff at the SoP Library.

Nikita Harvey (NMR Facility Manager) has achieved the status of Registered Scientist with the Royal Society of Chemistry through the Science Council. Recently, she attained her PhD and is also planning to apply for Chartered Scientist status. 

Dr Sara Garfield is proud of all the work that she has done with patient and public involvement in teaching, enabling patients and carers to shape the development of future pharmacists.

Dr Rachael Dickman is proud of all of the work her students produce, in particular work on peptide design to neuro-regenerative applications.

Dr Zermina Rashid is proud to be part of Dr Sudaxshina Murdan’s group. She is exploring sublingual route for vaccines delivery and investigating the colloidal stability of metal nanoparticles.

Poppy Smith (PhD student) is proud of being head of the Co-Production Committee of The Nerve Injury Community Day 2023 event. She was responsible for bringing the public and patient involvement and engagement event about. She also secured fund to attend the IHE Workshop.

Female role models mentioned by the above include:

Lawrencia’s mother, Betty, an inspirational, intelligent, caring, wise woman of faith, a nurse, midwife, teacher, mother, carer, friend, who qualified as a nurse at 16 and had the courage at 18 years old to get on a ship, at the UK government's invitation, to further her studies when she has grown up in a village in Ghana, and who eventually ran her own nursing college.

Sudaxshina’s mum and sister who have overcome difficulties with great courage and grace and come out smiling.

Victoria’s mother who provided her with wise words of encouragement and was always there for her.  Victoria is also inspired by the managers she have had over the years, who helped her to excel in her career.

Maria Jose’s High school chemistry teacher because she made her believe in herself that she could achieve anything with determination and putting her best.

Dr Dana Scully, a fictional character from the 90s Science Fiction TV programme the X-Files who inspired Zoe who also inspired to her amazing colleagues within UCL; Dorothy Hodgkin for her outstanding and remarkable contribution to science;

Prof Rivka Isaacson, Prof Carolyn Moores, Dr Jia Li and particularly Dr Beatriz Jiménez, who all taught Nikita a different way to be a woman in science and to work with precision and forethought;

Dr Melissa Rayner for her achievements, her ability to balance her life and to support all around her;

Cate Whittlesea, Bryony Dean Franklin and Li Wei who have have all juggled career development and families and become professors.

Professor Ijeoma F. Uchegbu; Alethea Tabor.

Professor Cate Whittlesea who is an impressive researcher and leader, while also being approachable and genuinely caring for those she works with;

Prof Jayne Lawrence who always encouraged Cate to do good science, has provided her with advice over her career and is always one to give critical but supportive advice/feedback;

Zermina says that all the women around her are a source of inspiration and motivation for her in one way or another.

Advice they would give their younger selves include:

Always aim do your best and embrace change.

Don't allow others' expectations to define you or limit you.

Keep aiming for excellence, but not perfection.
Have one or several mentors.

Meet and collaborate with people who are always motivating, encouraging and supporting with optimistic vision.

Keep going!

Sit and think deeply about what you want in life.

Pay more attention to your foreign language lessons. The world is very wide and it is so worth it to explore it as tourist but also as citizen and working force. Learning languages will help you discover incredible people and cultures.

Should have listened to your parents more and be more confident in life.

Don’t fixate so much on wanting to follow the traditional academic career path. Being technical staff allows much greater job satisfaction and a better work-life balance. 

Be more confident.

Don't underestimate yourself!

Express yourself.

Celebrate the small wins because they can make all the difference.