Sessions included updates on UK Young Academy activities and programmes, and presentations from member-led projects. Attendees had the opportunity to have their say on the Young Academy’s workplan moving forward and to conduct project ideation through roundtable discussions. The day concluded with an evening drinks reception and formal dinner with our members and senior partners, and a speech from a prominent guest.
Organiser
UK Young Academy
UK Young Academy
9.30am – 10am
Arrival and refreshments
10am – 10.10am
Welcome and opening address
Sophie Meekings
Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow from University of York
Sophie Meekings is a neuroscientist whose work focuses on understanding speech production in typical speakers and people with communication disabilities (like stuttering). Studying voices was an unusual choice, as Sophie is profoundly deaf – but she believes her lived experience of communication disability makes her a better researcher as she has a deep personal understanding of the complexity of spoken communication and the challenges it can pose for disabled people.
Sophie is currently a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of York, with previous work funded by the British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council. In her spare time, she volunteers for a national outdoor education charity and can teach you how to light a fire, read a map, or whittle a spoon.
10.10am – 10.20am
Annual report on activities
Sophie Meekings
Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow from University of York
Sophie Meekings is a neuroscientist whose work focuses on understanding speech production in typical speakers and people with communication disabilities (like stuttering). Studying voices was an unusual choice, as Sophie is profoundly deaf – but she believes her lived experience of communication disability makes her a better researcher as she has a deep personal understanding of the complexity of spoken communication and the challenges it can pose for disabled people.
Sophie is currently a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of York, with previous work funded by the British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council. In her spare time, she volunteers for a national outdoor education charity and can teach you how to light a fire, read a map, or whittle a spoon.
10.20am – 11.10am
Updates on activities of the UK Young Academy
Updates provided by representatives from UK Young Academy activities, and facilitated by Sandeep Sandhu, Executive Group representative.
Michael Berthaume
Reader, Department of Engineering from King's College London
Michael Berthaume is a Reader in the Department of Engineering at King’s College London. Previously at London South Bank University, he was Deputy Head of the Division of Mechanical Engineering and Design, served as treasurer of its LGBTQ+ organisation, and sat on the School of Engineering’s Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) committee. He studied mechanical engineering and anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, before moving to Europe and completing postdoctoral researcher positions in anthropology and bioengineering at the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology and Imperial College London.
Mike believes that transdisciplinary research is the future, providing a holistic view of problems and enabling novel solutions. He is working to establish the field of anthroengineering, which combines anthropology and engineering to address questions within and beyond both disciplines. His research focuses on human evolutionary biomechanics, the mechanics of human biological variation, and prosthetics for low- and middle-income countries.
Ana Blanco Alvarez
Reader in Advanced Construction Materials and Methods from Loughborough University
Ana Blanco is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Advanced Construction Materials and Methods at Loughborough University. Her research focuses on advanced and multi-functional cementitious composites, with an emphasis on low-carbon alternatives, dematerialisation of structures, and innovative construction and repair techniques for resilient infrastructure.
She studied Civil Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, completing a PhD on fibre-reinforced cementitious composites. Ana has been a visiting researcher at Delft University of Technology, co-founded a spin-out company in Spain, and joined Loughborough University in 2018. She is a Chartered Engineer, member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institute of Concrete Technology, and the Women’s Engineering Society, and serves as an Editor of Construction and Building Materials.
Her recent work includes developing novel rail repair technologies with Network Rail, exploring self-healing concrete with Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding, and studying reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) for the NHS. She also collaborates internationally to advance sustainable construction practices.
Jennifer Clarke
Operations Leader for the Chief Scientist Directorate from NPL Management Limited
Jennifer Clarke is the Operations Leader for the Chief Scientist Directorate at National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Management Limited. She joined NPL Management Limited in 2017, originally working across the organisation to deliver collaborations, sales and research partnerships with other National Metrology Institutes, big science organisations, government, academia, and industry. She is now the operations leader for the Chief Scientist, working at the interface of strategy, governance, and operational implementation. She is a keen member of NPL’s Juno committee, and passionate about creating opportunities for junior scientists to develop through the Directors Science and Engineering Fund, International Secondment Scheme, and Daphne Jackson Fellowships.
Originally a chemical oceanographer, Jennifer previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher focusing on developing and testing instrumentation to measure carbon dioxide, pH, and other associated parameters in situ in marine environments. She collaborated internationally both with other academics and industry, taking part in international research cruises, fieldwork, and conferences.
Jennifer is a passionate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) ambassador, and desires to encourage more diversity in science.
Sarah-Jane Dunlop-Potts
Lecturer from Swansea University
Sarah-Jane Dunlop-Potts is a Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Swansea University. Formerly, she was a Technology Transfer fellow, enabling the upscale and optimisation of printed perovskite solar photovoltaics at the same institution.
Sarah-Jane holds an Engineering Masters (MEng) in Product Design Engineering and an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Materials Engineering. Her current research focuses on utilising additive manufacturing techniques, such as screen-printing, to develop novel energy solutions, with a circular economy approach.
As the Current President of the South Wales Materials Association (a local society affiliated with the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining), and the Regional Education Officer for the Institute of Mechanical Engineers South Wales Region Panel, Sarah-Jane is dedicated to providing opportunities for Engineers and Scientists to share their skills and ideas in a welcoming and inclusive network.
She is also a passionate, award-winning Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Ambassador with a decade of experience in organising and providing public engagement and outreach events with thousands of young people.
Molly Halligan
Senior Research Officer from Scottish Government
Molly Halligan is a Senior Research Officer in Equality Analysis for the Scottish Government, dedicated to strengthening the equality evidence base to drive more inclusive policy decisions and improve lives across Scotland. She works with colleagues across a range of analytical professions and policy areas to improve how equality evidence is gathered, analysed, and used. Passionate about collaboration and exchange of knowledge, she co-founded the Scottish Government’s first Analytical Community of Practice for Equality Variables.
Prior to this position, Molly obtained an MSc in Medical Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh where she explored how gender shapes experiences of chronic pain in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). She now volunteers with a Patient Public Involvement group for IBD, consisting of clinical researchers and people with IBD, including herself. This has resulted in impactful projects, including the short film ‘Our Lives with IBD’ and a patient-led paper exploring priorities for IBD wellbeing research.
Andrew Holding
Lecturer from University of York
Andrew Holding is a lecturer at the University of York, where he leads a research team. He is a cancer-focused academic and award-winning science communicator. His team looks to understand the impact of steroid hormones on cancer patients. This research is hugely important because steroid hormones are both produced naturally by the body and are essential medications to treat the symptoms of cancer.
Hiba Khan
Chief Revenue Officer from Medics.Academy
Hiba Khan is a Doctor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, NHS England Clinical Entrepreneur, Honorary Lecturer at The University of Central Lancashire, and Chief Revenue Officer at Medics.Academy - a healthcare education and technology company.
She has a background in entrepreneurship, innovation, and solutions in healthcare, and was recently awarded an Innovation Fellowship at Mid and South Essex NHS Trust to continue this work. Hiba runs the development function at Medics.Academy, and oversees a global team of executives.
She also has experience in governance as Vice-Chair of the Board at Queen Mary University Students’ Union, and Chair of their Audit and Risk Committee. She is a Governor on the Board of the University of West London Workforce Committee and on the Board of Melanin Medics.
Hiba has won several awards for research and performance in her clinical roles, a national award in quality improvement, two consecutive “Outstanding Trainee” awards, and a gold medal in regional weightlifting.
Catherine Manning
Lecturer in Psychology from University of Birmingham
Cathy Manning is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Birmingham. She studied Experimental Psychology at University of Oxford (2007-2010), before completing an MRes/PhD at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education at the Institute of Education at University College London (2010-2014). She then held the Scott Family Junior Research Fellowship at University College, Oxford (2014-2017) followed by a Henry Wellcome Fellowship (2017-2021). She moved to University of Reading to start her independent research group in 2021.
Cathy researches sensory processing across child development, and in autism and dyslexia, with a particular focus on the visual system. She has received numerous early career awards, including the British Psychology Society Developmental Section Neil O’Connor Award, the Applied Vision Association David Marr Medal, the Experimental Psychology Society Prize, Autistica’s Reproducible Autism Science Award, and an Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award. She is also an Editor at the journal ‘Autism’.
Alistair McConnell
Assistant Professor in Computer Science from Heriot-Watt University
Alistair McConnell is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at Heriot-Watt University, whose research focuses primarily on soft robots, human-robot interaction, and healthcare robotics.
Alistair is enthusiastic about public engagement and outreach both within the university and all around the country. He leads the Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh Centre for Robotics public engagement activities and works closely with the National Robotarium engagement team.
He is driven to take research and work out of the lab and into the real world, often through the entrepreneurial route, where he has experience creating both spinouts and start-ups. During his post-doctoral role, he co-founded the start-up Mask Logic Ltd as a way of addressing the problems of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Victoria Miyandazi
Assistant Professor from University of Nottingham
Victoria Miyandazi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham School of Law. Previously, she was the Knight Fellow in Legal and Constitutional Research at the University of St Andrews. She was also a Researcher and Editor at the Oxford Human Rights Hub. She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
She holds Doctor of Philosophy in Law, Master of Philosophy in Law and Bachelor of Civil Law Degrees from the University of Oxford where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She also holds a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) Degree from Kenyatta University.
Victoria teaches and writes in the areas of Equality Law, Public Law, Property Law, International Law, and Comparative Law. She is the author of ‘Equality in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution: Understanding the Competing and Interrelated Conceptions’ (Hart Publishing, 2021). She was named one of The Africa Report’s ‘10 African Scholars to Watch’ (2025).
Imrose Muhit
Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering from Teesside University
Imrose is a Civil Engineer and Senior Lecturer in Civil and Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering at Teesside University. With a PhD from the University of Newcastle, Australia, he has spent the past decade researching and advocating for sustainable construction practices. His experience spans academia and industry across four countries: the UK, Australia, South Korea, and Bangladesh.
He is involved in a number of European and British research projects on circular construction and AI-driven solutions. He is frequently invited to speak on zero-carbon built environments in various countries.
Committed to advancing knowledge and serving the community, Imrose actively advises ICE Knowledge Networks on Sustainable Resilient Infrastructure. Additionally, he contributes to Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council as a Climate Coalition (Business) member, supporting the Borough in achieving its net-zero targets through collaboration with local businesses.
Alina Patelli
Senior Lecturer in Applied Artificial Intelligence from Aston University
Alina Patelli is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Artificial Intelligence at Aston University. She is passionate about the environmental agenda and is committed to realising it by harvesting the power of AI, ethically, safely, and considerately. She dedicates her work, both in the arena of scientific research and in the classroom, to developing powerful, reliable and moral technologies with direct applications in problem domains directly relevant to the net zero strategy. Intelligent transportation is one.
Imagine a fully integrated urban ecosystem where people, their vehicles and the roads on which they travel interact in a sustainable, conscientious way that preserves the planet and betters the lives of its inhabitants. This is what Alina stands for and aims to bring about by educating the AI researchers of tomorrow.
Sandeep Sandhu
Executive Director, Global, Investment & Insights from Innovate UK Business Connect
Sandeep Sandhu is an Executive Director of Global, Investment, and Insights at Innovate UK Business Connect (IUK). She is a research and innovation expert with experience across government, academia, and international partnerships. She currently leads a 50-strong directorate, spanning global partnerships, policy and insight, strategic stakeholder engagement, and private investment across the UK and Africa. Sandeep has built impactful collaborations with governments, industry, investors, and universities worldwide, and previously led IUK’s international programmes, brokering bilateral innovation partnerships with key global economies.
Earlier, Sandeep served as Senior International Policy Manager at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), where she developed UKRI’s international strategy, advanced European science policy, and represented the UK on the Global Research Council. At the Medical Research Council, she managed global health programmes including the Newton Fund and the Global Challenges Research Fund, and acted as National Contact Point for Health for Horizon 2020.
She holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.
Clare Siviter-Groschwald
Associate Professor in French Theatre from University of Bristol
Clare Siviter-Groschwald is Associate Professor in French Theatre at the University of Bristol. Prior to this, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Université Clermont Auvergne, France, after a BA and PhD at the University of Warwick.
Clare’s current research primarily focuses on theatre as a lens to study discussions of nationalism and rights during the longer Revolutionary period in France (c.1788-1818). She is passionate about Arts education, international collaboration, and how history can help us better understand the present world.
Clare has been nominated as a BBC/Arts and Humanities Council New Generation Thinker; a Franco-British Young Leader (a scheme supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office and its French counterpart); and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society amongst other positions. She is also dyslexic and epileptic and is a keen advocate for disability awareness.
Catarina Vicente
Head of Scientific Strategy and Projects from University of Oxford
Catarina Vicente is the Head of Scientific Strategy and Projects of the Dunn School of Pathology at the University of Oxford. A scientist by training, her professional career has followed the belief that science cannot be truly successful or impactful without effective communication, both between scientists and with wider society. After a PhD in cell biology, she pursued roles in intra-scientific communication (in the publishing industry), later focusing on public engagement and science communication in an academic context.
In her current role, she has a unique opportunity to influence academic research directly, capitalising on her communication skills. Alongside this, Catarina is an Official Fellow in Public Engagement with Research at Reuben College, where she develops public engagement projects from a unique scholarly and interdisciplinary perspective.
Amy Vincent
Newcastle University Academic Track Fellow from Newcastle University
Amy Vincent is a Newcastle Academic Track Fellow at Newcastle University in the Mitochondrial Research group and John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre. She completed her PhD in 2017 and was awarded a Fellowship in 2019, when she was invited to be a principal investigator in the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research. Mitochondria are the batteries of our cells making the energy for the cells to function. Her group works on understanding the cause and progression of a rare disease called mitochondrial disease, and the effect of mitochondrial dysfunction on muscle cells.
Public and patient engagement are incredibly important to Amy, who regularly attends family days run by the Lily Foundation and Muscular Dystrophy UK. She is active on several committees which focus on equality, diversity and inclusion and career development for early career researchers. Amy is a woman in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and a member of the LGBTQ+ community in STEM.
11.10am – 11.20am
Update from the Staff team
Charlotte Senior
Membership and Alumni Officer from UK Young Academy
Charlotte Senior is the Membership Officer and joined the UK Young Academy at the end of November 2023. As part of her role, she overseas member activities and development, facilitates member-led projects, and organises events for members and stakeholders, including the New Members’ Induction and Annual Members’ Meeting. She is also the project manager for the yearly call for applications.
With previous roles spanning design to clinical reporting, Charlotte has experience in membership and public engagement, organising sell-out public events, and supporting individuals at all stages of their careers to develop new skills.
Outside of work, Charlotte is a regular performer with the BBC Symphony Chorus and keen houseplant cultivator – casual hobbies which have grown exceedingly out of hand.
11.20am – 11.50am
Morning break
The morning break included a project showcase of all ongoing projects.
11.50am – 12pm
Update from the Royal Society
Lesley Miles
Chief Officer – Programmes, Partnerships and Engagement
Chief Officer – Programmes, Partnerships and Engagement – at the Royal Society, having joined in 2013 as the Chief Strategy Officer. Her role includes responsibility for major strands of work including grants, public, schools and industry engagement and the Royal Society’s focus on diversity and inclusion in STEM. She is the staff lead for the UK Young Academy at the Royal Society. Before joining the Royal Society, Lesley was the Marketing and Communications Director of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. Most of her career was spent working in the private sector, including six years as Marketing Director of Waterstones Booksellers.
12pm – 1pm
Governance session: membership business, discussion, and voting
This was a closed session for members of the UK Young Academy only. This session was facilitated by Amy Vincent, Executive Group representative.
Jennifer Clarke
Operations Leader for the Chief Scientist Directorate from NPL Management Limited
Jennifer Clarke is the Operations Leader for the Chief Scientist Directorate at National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Management Limited. She joined NPL Management Limited in 2017, originally working across the organisation to deliver collaborations, sales and research partnerships with other National Metrology Institutes, big science organisations, government, academia, and industry. She is now the operations leader for the Chief Scientist, working at the interface of strategy, governance, and operational implementation. She is a keen member of NPL’s Juno committee, and passionate about creating opportunities for junior scientists to develop through the Directors Science and Engineering Fund, International Secondment Scheme, and Daphne Jackson Fellowships.
Originally a chemical oceanographer, Jennifer previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher focusing on developing and testing instrumentation to measure carbon dioxide, pH, and other associated parameters in situ in marine environments. She collaborated internationally both with other academics and industry, taking part in international research cruises, fieldwork, and conferences.
Jennifer is a passionate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) ambassador, and desires to encourage more diversity in science.
Heather Doran
Public Engagement Manager from Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science, University of Dundee
Heather Doran is the Public Engagement Manager at the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS), University of Dundee. In this role, she leads public and external engagement through creative methods. The LRCFS has received a Gold Watermark Award from the National Co-ordinating Centre for its public engagement approach.
She is an elected representative at Angus Council, a member of the International Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) Scientific Committee, and Chair of the Programme Committee for the PCST 2025 Conference. She also serves on the Public Engagement Advisory Board for CÚRAM (a medical device research centre), and is a jury member for the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications.
Heather was the Science Editor for The Biochemist (2020–2023), Secretary of PCST (2021–2023), and Co-Chair of PCST 2020+1. In 2015-16, she received a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travel Fellowship to study global science communication.
Victoria Miyandazi
Assistant Professor from University of Nottingham
Victoria Miyandazi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham School of Law. Previously, she was the Knight Fellow in Legal and Constitutional Research at the University of St Andrews. She was also a Researcher and Editor at the Oxford Human Rights Hub. She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
She holds Doctor of Philosophy in Law, Master of Philosophy in Law and Bachelor of Civil Law Degrees from the University of Oxford where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She also holds a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) Degree from Kenyatta University.
Victoria teaches and writes in the areas of Equality Law, Public Law, Property Law, International Law, and Comparative Law. She is the author of ‘Equality in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution: Understanding the Competing and Interrelated Conceptions’ (Hart Publishing, 2021). She was named one of The Africa Report’s ‘10 African Scholars to Watch’ (2025).
Charles Maurice Pigott
Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies from University of Strathclyde
Charles Maurice Pigott is a Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies at the University of Strathclyde and Quondam Fellow of Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge. His research focuses on literature written today in the languages of the Aztecs, Mayas and Incas, which are still spoken by millions of indigenous people in Latin America. Between 2018 and 2021, he was Associate Professor of Literature at the University of the Americas Puebla, Mexico, prior to which he held a three-year Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the University of Cambridge, and a yearlong research fellowship at the Autonomous University of Yucatán, Mexico. His monograph, ‘Writing the Land, Writing Humanity: The Maya Literary Renaissance’ (Routledge, 2020), explored ecological perspectives in contemporary Maya literature and was awarded an Honourable Mention by the Modern Language Association.
Amy Vincent
Newcastle University Academic Track Fellow from Newcastle University
Amy Vincent is a Newcastle Academic Track Fellow at Newcastle University in the Mitochondrial Research group and John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre. She completed her PhD in 2017 and was awarded a Fellowship in 2019, when she was invited to be a principal investigator in the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research. Mitochondria are the batteries of our cells making the energy for the cells to function. Her group works on understanding the cause and progression of a rare disease called mitochondrial disease, and the effect of mitochondrial dysfunction on muscle cells.
Public and patient engagement are incredibly important to Amy, who regularly attends family days run by the Lily Foundation and Muscular Dystrophy UK. She is active on several committees which focus on equality, diversity and inclusion and career development for early career researchers. Amy is a woman in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and a member of the LGBTQ+ community in STEM.
1pm – 1.30pm
Opening of Executive Group elections
Jahangir Alom
Emergency Medicine Doctor and Former Clinical Lead for the NHS Staff Vaccination Programme from Barts Health NHS Trust
Jahangir Alom is an Emergency Medicine Doctor at Barts Health NHS Trust, and the former Clinical Lead for the NHS Staff Vaccination Programme. He gained his primary medical qualification at the University of Southampton. He holds an MSc in Public Health from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he researched the experience of British Bangladeshis during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. He is a board member at the Institute of Public Policy Research, a Westminster think tank and a Governor at Stepney All Saint School, a non-selective state school in East London. In his free time, he has completed the London and Tokyo Marathon to raise funds for a global health charity, Selfless, where he is the Programme Director.
He was a recipient of an NHS Parliamentary Award (London) for his work on tackling vaccine inequality and was ranked in the top 100 influential healthcare leaders in 2022 by the Health Service Journal. In the New Years Honours 2024, Jahangir received a British Empire Medal for services to tackling health inequalities.
1.30pm – 2.30pm
Lunch
The lunch break included a showcase from current Working Groups.
2.30pm – 3pm
Activity showcase
Spotlights of successes and learnings from UK Young Academy activities, facilitated by Linda Oyama, Executive Group representative.
Franck Courbon
Chief Executive Officer from Ethicronics Ltd
Franck Courbon is the Founder & CEO of Ethicronics, a Cambridge-based scale-up pioneering low-level software for hardware assurance and trusted electronics in defence, datacentres, and other critical infrastructures. Under his leadership, Ethicronics has secured major funding from InnovateUK and the Defence and Security Accelerator, partnered with world leaders, engaged key hires and earned companies awards including the Franco-British Business Award – Small Business of the Year 2024 and Cambridge Business Weekly – Graduate Business of the Year 2024.
His career spans industry, academia, and entrepreneurship: from Gemalto Security Labs (now Thales-DIS) to a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship at the University of Cambridge. He has recently been named Cybersecurity Influencer of the Year 2025, Franco-British Young Leader 2025, and By-Fellow at Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge.
Dedicated to mentoring, responsible innovation, collaboration, transparency and impact, Franck is an active voice in shaping the future of UK science, technology, and policy.
Nikita Hari
Head, Teaching and Research Design Support Group, Engineering Science from University of Oxford
Nikita Hari is the Head of the Teaching and Research Design Support Group at the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. She is a multi-award-winning interdisciplinary Engineer with a career spanning more than a decade in integrated global industry, start-ups, and higher education.
Nikita holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cambridge and was a Faculty for Future Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford. A TEDx speaker and Co-founder of two Edtech companies, Nikita serves as a strategic advisor, influencing policy and systems across governments, startups, and universities. Holding key roles such as CTO/Director/Co-founder and as the innovation lead of UK's first industry-based university, her career journey is defined by leading transformative initiatives in engineering and education.
A passionate advocate for Engineering, Nikita’s vision is to engage, educate and inspire the next wave of change-makers and innovators to engineer a better, brighter, and more sustainable future.
Andrew Holding
Lecturer from University of York
Andrew Holding is a lecturer at the University of York, where he leads a research team. He is a cancer-focused academic and award-winning science communicator. His team looks to understand the impact of steroid hormones on cancer patients. This research is hugely important because steroid hormones are both produced naturally by the body and are essential medications to treat the symptoms of cancer.
Linda Oyama
Lecturer in Microbiomics, Antimicrobial Resistance and One Health from Queen's University Belfast
Linda Oyama is a microbiologist and lecturer at the School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University Belfast. She holds a First-class Microbiology degree and a PhD in Biological Sciences.
Linda’s research interests centre around understanding antimicrobial resistance in microbiomes from a One Health perspective through surveillance and epidemiological studies using meta-omics approaches. She aims to tackle antimicrobial resistance through the discovery and development of novel treatment options for various clinical and veterinary multidrug-resistant infections.
Josephine Pepper
Associate - European & UK Patent Attorney from J A Kemp
Josie Pepper is a fully qualified European and UK Patent Attorney. She advises biotechnology and life sciences inventors and companies and helps them obtain (or knock out) patents for inventions in fields like immunology, crop science and genetics. She has an academic background in molecular and cellular biochemistry, lab experience in molecular genetics and structural microbiology, and study and work experience in pandemic policy.
Josie is passionate about how technologies can be responsibly and sustainably leveraged to tackle challenges like climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and food security.
Dhruti Shah
Creative Lead from Have You Thought About
Dhruti Shah is a multi-award-winning neurodivergent journalist, author, and storytelling consultant. She brings two decades of experience at the BBC as a journalist, producer and editor, where she worked across investigations, business, verification, and did a stint in the US where she broke digital records. Now independent, she has written for The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New Humanitarian, New Scientist, New Humanist and The I.
She is the author of the award-winning Bear Markets and Beyond: A Bestiary of Business Terms and is also a published short story writer and poet. She has performed at the Hammersmith Lyric Theatre, Story Collider and Be You Festival. She is creator-host of the award-shortlisted Have You Thought About podcast and newsletter.
A recipient of five global fellowships, she advises the Museum of Colour, is a Clore Cultural Leader, was shortlisted for the Häagen-Dazs Rose Project, and is a TV Foundation Visionary.
Clare Siviter-Groschwald
Associate Professor in French Theatre from University of Bristol
Clare Siviter-Groschwald is Associate Professor in French Theatre at the University of Bristol. Prior to this, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Université Clermont Auvergne, France, after a BA and PhD at the University of Warwick.
Clare’s current research primarily focuses on theatre as a lens to study discussions of nationalism and rights during the longer Revolutionary period in France (c.1788-1818). She is passionate about Arts education, international collaboration, and how history can help us better understand the present world.
Clare has been nominated as a BBC/Arts and Humanities Council New Generation Thinker; a Franco-British Young Leader (a scheme supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office and its French counterpart); and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society amongst other positions. She is also dyslexic and epileptic and is a keen advocate for disability awareness.
3pm – 4.20pm
Activity ideation round tables
Muhammad Naeem Anwar
Royal Society-Newton International Fellow from Swansea University
Muhammad Naeem Anwar is a theoretical particle physicist whose research focuses on the strong force that binds quarks and gluons to form hadrons. He is interested in hadrons which involve more complex and unusual combinations of quarks, called exotic hadrons.
Naeem is currently a Newton International Fellow of the Royal Society at Swansea University (Department of Physics). Formerly, he was a postdoc at the University of Bonn and Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany.
He received a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and was awarded the Excellent International Graduate 2018. He was a visiting PhD student at the University of Bonn. He obtained his BSc (Hons) in Computational Physics and MPhil in High Energy Physics from the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Amy Vincent
Newcastle University Academic Track Fellow from Newcastle University
Amy Vincent is a Newcastle Academic Track Fellow at Newcastle University in the Mitochondrial Research group and John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre. She completed her PhD in 2017 and was awarded a Fellowship in 2019, when she was invited to be a principal investigator in the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research. Mitochondria are the batteries of our cells making the energy for the cells to function. Her group works on understanding the cause and progression of a rare disease called mitochondrial disease, and the effect of mitochondrial dysfunction on muscle cells.
Public and patient engagement are incredibly important to Amy, who regularly attends family days run by the Lily Foundation and Muscular Dystrophy UK. She is active on several committees which focus on equality, diversity and inclusion and career development for early career researchers. Amy is a woman in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and a member of the LGBTQ+ community in STEM.
4.20pm – 4.40pm
Afternoon break
4.40pm – 4.50pm
Update from the Communications Working Group
Alina Patelli
Senior Lecturer in Applied Artificial Intelligence from Aston University
Alina Patelli is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Artificial Intelligence at Aston University. She is passionate about the environmental agenda and is committed to realising it by harvesting the power of AI, ethically, safely, and considerately. She dedicates her work, both in the arena of scientific research and in the classroom, to developing powerful, reliable and moral technologies with direct applications in problem domains directly relevant to the net zero strategy. Intelligent transportation is one.
Imagine a fully integrated urban ecosystem where people, their vehicles and the roads on which they travel interact in a sustainable, conscientious way that preserves the planet and betters the lives of its inhabitants. This is what Alina stands for and aims to bring about by educating the AI researchers of tomorrow.
4.50pm – 5pm
The next six months at the UK Young Academy
Amy Fry
UK Young Academy Programme Manager from UK Young Academy
Amy Fry is the Programme Manager for the UK Young Academy, and has been in the role since 2021, supporting in the planning and launch of the organisation in 2022 and operational running since. She manages the Staff team, and is the main point of contact for the Executive Group, Partner Academies and other stakeholders involved in the initiative.
Her background is in public engagement with science and project management, and she has been involved with running science festivals, delivering engagement initiatives such as book prizes and interdisciplinary grant funding as well as managing a range of small and large scale events and trainings.
She is passionate about advocating for the voices of early-career individuals and is an avid theatre-goer in her spare time.
5pm – 5.30pm
Closing and overview of plan for evening
Denis Newman-Griffis
Senior Lecturer and AI for Health Lead from University of Sheffield Centre for Machine Intelligence
Denis Newman-Griffis (they/them) is a transdisciplinary leader working at the intersection of academic research and policy to shape responsible AI, AI-enabled research, and the intersection of AI and disability. Their research integrates perspectives from AI and machine learning, critical data studies, and health informatics to understand how AI and research systems can be ethically designed and managed to improve human flourishing.
Denis has developed some of the first natural language processing methods for analysing information about the lived experience of disability, and is pioneering methods for examining the AI design process from a critical disability perspective. They are working to develop best practices for responsible AI design and growing the international community around disability informatics.
Denis is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Sheffield and AI for Health Lead in the Centre for Machine Intelligence. They received the American Medical Informatics Association's Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2021.
7pm – 8pm
Arrival and canapé drinks reception
8pm – 8.10am
Welcome address
Nick Jennings
Vice-Chancellor and President from Loughborough University
8.10pm – 8.55pm
Main course
8.55pm – 9.25pm
Plenary
Will Butler-Adams
Managing Director
9.25pm – 10pm
Dessert
