NHS England announces inspiring female healthcare scientists to join 2017 fellowship programme
Following a successful first year, NHS England has announced four new candidates for the 2017 Chief Scientific Officer’s (CSO) WISE Fellowship starting in September 2017.
The programme launched in conjunction with International Women’s Day last year, attracted over 50 applications from female healthcare scientists who will act as role models to inspire the next generation of scientists.
The Chief Scientific Officer’s WISE Fellowship Programme is a bespoke 12 month initiative, in partnership with WISE – a campaign for gender balance in science, technology and engineering.
Following a highly competitive selection process the successful applicants are:
Dr Joanne Horne, Advanced Practitioner Healthcare Scientist – Histopathology, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
Zoe Clarke, Environmental Controls Lead, Assistive Technology Clinical Specialist, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Michelle Foster, Clinical Scientist – Audiology, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Lisa Ayers, Clinical Scientist – Immunology, Oxford University Hospital.
Due to the high quality of applications, an additional one day leadership development opportunity, including expert coaching from WISE will be open to all applicants.
The Fellowship includes a career development programme, providing mentoring support, communication and leadership skills training starting in September 2017. In addition to allocated training, activity and network days, the fellows will attend both the WISE and Chief Scientific Officer conferences.
Professor Sue Hill OBE, Chief Scientific Officer for England, said the initiative was a unique opportunity to inspire the next generation of female healthcare scientists to gain leadership experience and showcase the wide variety of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) based careers within the NHS.
“I am proud to announce the Fellows who now have the opportunity to inspire the next generation of female scientists. In recognition of the importance of science and innovation in addressing global health challenges, we have been working with WISE to create this fellowship scheme and support an aim of getting one million more women working in the UK STEM workforce.”