Inspiring females in STEM – International Women’s Day 2023
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To celebrate #IWD2023, the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are sharing some stories from the inspiring women at their North East Innovation Lab.
The North East Innovation Lab is part of Newcastle Hospitals and works with organisations of all sizes, from university spin outs to large international companies, supporting the development of next generation diagnostics. Women in the North East Innovation Lab team work in a range of roles to support the development of cutting-edge diagnostic tests and are playing an essential role in making the North East a life sciences powerhouse.
Between them, they bring together impressive experience and expertise in areas including liver disease, tumour immunology, haematology, transplantation science, paediatric oncology, type 2 diabetes, diagnostics and genetic testing. To mark International Women’s Day, Amanda Winter, diagnostic evaluation healthcare scientist, is speaking at a women in #STEM event at Northumbria University to help inspire graduates into the field of science.
Amanda Winter
Diagnostic evaluation healthcare scientist
Amanda supports all aspects of the design and delivery of research and evaluation including study design, protocol development, participant identification and recruitment, and provides specific methodological expertise to the team.
Amanda has worked in the NHS for over ten years and originally trained in microbiology and virology. Prior to joining the team she worked as a biomedical scientist specialising in haematology and transplantation science. On gaining her MSc in biomedical science, Amanda became a methodologist at the National Institute for Health Research Newcastle In-vitro Diagnostics Co-operative.
“I decided to do a STEM degree because I’d always been interested in #science and #healthcare, and there were lots of employment opportunities in the field. I was fortunate enough to be selected for a placement opportunity at the Freeman Hospital during my degree, which really helped to shape my career. I really enjoyed doing tests in the lab and helping to solve clinical problems made me feel like a detective!”
The placement also supported Amanda in gaining qualifications which helped her to join the profession when she graduated.
Meet some other inspiring women in the North East Innovation Lab team:
Dr Caroline Wilson
Principal scientist
Caroline is responsible for developing scientific links between the NHS, industry and academia, evolving innovative research, evaluating and assessing new technologies and molecular assays. This includes horizon scanning for new technologies in a quest to future-proof the diagnostics landscape.
Caroline studied medical microbiology and immunology and has almost twenty years’ scientific experience. Prior to joining the innovation lab, Caroline was a research fellow at Newcastle University working on a broad range of molecular and immunological projects and a principal investigator studying liver disease and tumour immunology.
Dr Donna Nile
Senior scientist
Donna manages our biobank repository, which contains 1000s of biological samples collected from our regional Lighthouse laboratory and partnering laboratories within our network. The biobank provides clients with access to the valuable samples they need to help develop their diagnostic tests.
Donna is an experienced cancer research scientist with over 15 years’ laboratory experience in both academia and industry. During her time in academia, she drove ground-breaking advancement within paediatric oncology and the genetics of type 2 diabetes. Her experience in industry includes working with Unilever to validate a model of gene silencing.
Melanie Shield
Commercial business manager
Melanie provides a dedicated point of contact for clients and commercial partners looking to engage the services of the lab. She works to identify client requirements, establish good relationships, develop service agreements and to market the lab.
Melanie has over 25 years’ experience in a variety of commercial roles in the private sector from start-ups to FTSE 250 companies. She has a wealth of experience in product development, launching products to market and driving commercial activity.
Cara Shrimplin
Healthcare science associate practitioner
Cara’s role at the lab involves assisting in the assessment and development of diagnostic tests and support ongoing projects.
Cara’s science career began as an undergraduate in forensic science and criminology at Northumbria University and from here she took her master’s degree in biotechnology. Her background is in diagnostics and genetic testing, and Cara worked for companies with this focus prior to her role at the lab.
Meet the rest of the team at https://commercial.newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk/our-services/innovation-lab/team/
#EmbraceEquity #IWD2023 #STEM #WomenInStem