Building a Future for Women in Science

Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist & National Clinical Lead, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

Alka Ahuja MBE is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and has roles with Technology Enabled Care Cymru, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the University of South Wales and Cardiff University. Her interests include qualitative research, neurodevelopmental disorders and co-production in healthcare and digital health. She has published in peer reviewed journals and was awarded an MBE for her services to the NHS during the pandemic.

Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist & National Clinical Lead, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

Dr Seema Arif specialises in radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. She is a specialist in advanced radiotherapy techniques and has been involved in national and international clinical trials. She implemented the first liver stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy treatment (the precise targeting of radiation therapy) in Wales, where she is also the colorectal cancer lead.

She received an MBE in 2022 for services to healthcare amongst the Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

Professor & Deputy Director of Research, Cardiff Hub for Astrophysics Research and Technology Cardiff University

Professor Calabrese is an observational cosmologist. She is a specialist in using the relic light from the Big Bang, the ancient, faint radiation left over from the early stages of the Universe, to probe the physics and evolution of the Universe. She moved to Wales in 2017 and established a cosmology team in the Cardiff School of Physics and Astronomy. This team is at the forefront of cosmic microwave background science and plays leading roles in developing the roadmap for new cosmological discoveries.

Clinical Professor & Honorary Consultant Medical Microbiologist, Swansea University

Professor Davies is a clinical academic, honorary consultant medical microbiologist, and Vice-President for Learning with the Royal College of Pathologists (2020 – 2023). She oversees UK clinical training and postgraduate examinations in all seventeen pathology specialties, making a major contribution to both the College’s work and her clinical specialty.

Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board & Honorary Visiting Professor, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences University (SVIMS) Tirupati, India

Professor Deglurkar is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon with a special interest in aortic surgery and high-risk surgery in octogenarians. She has performed over 2000 open heart operations with top outcomes.

Professor Deglurkar holds an Advanced Leadership Fellowship for Senior Executives from Harvard Business School and a number of leadership roles nationally and internationally aimed at improving patient care, equity of access and staff wellbeing.

Professor in Bioprocess Technology for Resource Recovery: Energy and Materials & Director of the Wales Centre of Excellence for Anaerobic Digestion, University of South Wales

Professor Esteves has over 23 years’ experience in biotechnology research, development and deployment. She has directed R&D projects with over £15m of funding from the state and private sectors. The inventor of two patents and eight trademarks, Professor Esteves was finalist for the BBSRC Innovator of the Year 2019. She also supports biological full-scale infrastructure development nationally and internationally.

Professor (Pharmacy), MPharm Programme Director & Head of Pharmacy Practice, Swansea University

Professor Guirguis is an internationally renowned ‘substance misuse’ pharmacist-researcher whose groundbreaking work includes pioneering the first UK Home Office-licensed drug checking service. Her extensive contributions to the field are underscored by over 100 peer-reviewed publications. Involvement in mentorship, global research collaborations, that influence the European Medicines Agency and The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, as well as expert witness roles in court all reflect the impact of her expertise.

Professor in Physical Oceanography, Bangor University

Professor Lenn’s research focuses on how heat transported by the polar oceans impacts sea ice and climate. She revealed new details of how Southern Ocean eddies are a key part of the great Antarctic Circumpolar Current’s energy balance; these eddies simultaneously move heat towards the icy Antarctic continent. In the Arctic, her work has documented how quickly the dynamics of this region are responding to climate change, heralding the ‘Atlantification’ of the Arctic which remains a hot topic.

Professor of Thermofluids, Imperial College London

Professor Morgans researches fluid dynamics, aeroacoustics and combustion. She obtained MEng and PhD degrees in Engineering at Cambridge University, before joining Imperial College London in 2007, where she became full Professor in 2017. She has held European Research Council ‘Starting and Consolidator’ grants, was elected FREng in 2021 and was awarded the LSW 2023 Menelaus Medal for her work on the instabilities that threaten the structure of gas turbine aero-engines.