STEM for Britain is a major scientific poster competition organised by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. The competition and exhibition has been held in Parliament every year since 1997, and aims to provide Members of both Houses with an insight into the outstanding work conducted by early-career researchers at universities throughout the UK.
At this event, the Physiological Society awards their prize to an early career researcher whose research stands out for being novel, robust and important. Bel was awarded the Physiological Society Prize 2023 after presenting her work on investigating DNA structure and its importance for regulating the expression of cancer genes in the human genome.
Bel says, “I entered STEM for Britain because I think one of the most beautiful things about science is having the opportunity to share your discoveries and motivation with the wider community. The fundamental science that we do is so vital to society, medicine and industry. I believe that the future of medicine will rely on genetic methods for personalised treatments and precision therapies. Hence, translating the progress from a laboratory bench to influencing policy making is crucial for a coordinated effort between scientists, policy makers and health regulators.”
She was quite surprised to win an award, “Being selected as one of the finalists and having the chance to present my discoveries in front of MPs and members of the parliamentary scientific committee was an incredibly inspiring experience. It definitely made me think about how the work I do fits into today’s society. All the research in the room was ground-breaking, that’s why I could not believe it when I was awarded the Physiological Society Award 2023 this year. Receiving such a prestigious award and seeing interest from everyone in the work I do every day, drives me to continue working hard. I am striving to take us closer to a future of precision medicine tools. “
We congratulate Bel on her achievement. Well done, Bel!
If you would like to read the the Physiological Society news article, then read here.
