2024 Winners of the College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion Award

The MVLS EDI award recognises outstanding achievements in promoting and/or enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion, within Schools, the College or the wider University.

Open to all MVLS staff and students including both postgraduate and undergraduate students.

The winning individual/team may have contributed to positive change in any of the following ways:

  • Acted as a role model, sponsor, or ally in championing EDI in the workplace.
  • Taken specific actions (e.g. addressing inappropriate language and/or harassment) to improve the workplace culture.
  • Acted as a visible role model, providing inspiration to members of under-represented groups both within and beyond the University.
  • Pioneered a new initiative to support, advocate, champion or advance equality, diversity, and inclusion.

2024 Winners and Their Contributions to Our College

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Dr Michelle Welsh – School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing

Michelle has initiated and led several innovations related to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) within the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, our University, and the wider community, demonstrating her deep passion and commitment to the subject.

As the lead on embedding EDI into the Anatomy BSc programme, Michelle has developed and integrated collaborative workshops, supported by a bespoke manual. Workshops cover topics such as the introduction to EDI and the androgenisation of anatomy, diversity in cadaveric dissection, EDI of human diseases through formative assessments, and EDI in anatomical structures culminating in summative poster presentations. Additionally, Michelle has extended her efforts into our Senior Honours projects, empowering students to explore EDI through dissertations on racial disparities in reproductive medicine, and outreach projects addressing stereotypes when it comes to STEM subjects. She also developed and has been leading since 2022 on a final-year 20-credit honours level course, titled “Diverse Anatomy”, which provides a thorough exploration of EDI issues within anatomy, a course unique to our institution. The periodic subject review singled these out as best practice and Michelle has been asked to advise externally on this approach.

Michelle’s EDI public engagement initiatives are equally impressive hosting events such as the Diverse Anatomy EDI Outreach Event in March 2024. This was attended by several school pupils from underrepresented backgrounds strengthening our widening access efforts. She also led the event “Who Can Be a Scientist?”, at the Glasgow Science Festival 2024, aimed at encouraging individuals from minoritised backgrounds to consider STEM careers. Through these activities Michelle has not only acted as a role model for underrepresented groups but has also empowered colleagues to gain the skills and confidence required to act as such role models.

Michelle’s commitment to EDI extends beyond the University through her collaboration with ALLIANCE to create tailored EDI anatomy events and her role as a member of the Anatomical Society EDI committee. For the latter, she is working in partnership with Primal, an internationally recognised industry provider of virtual anatomical atlases, to enhance resources through the lens of human diversity, creating more representative human models for education.

Michelle has pioneered an inclusive learning and working environment in the workplace, for students and colleagues, by securing spaces for prayer/quiet reflection and ensuring access to breastfeeding/menopause rooms. She advocated for curriculum adjustments that support our students during religious festivals, such as Ramadan.

Michelle’s work has been recognised at national and international conferences, published as open-access resources, and she continues to plan future events, such as the “Understanding Reproductive Health: From Puberty to Menopause” webinar with ALLIANCE. Her dedication to fostering an inclusive academic environment is evident through her sustained efforts and the significant positive impact, establishing herself as a role model, for students and colleagues, and as a champion for EDI within our University and beyond.

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Dr Zayba Ghazali-Mohammed, Dr Chiara Horlin, Dr Emily Nordmann and Dr Alexia Revueltas Roux – School of Psychology and Neuroscience

The School EDI Network Leads have significantly advanced Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) activity, through the development of three School EDI networks: The LGBTQ+ network, the Neurodiversity Network (NN), and the Race and Equality Network (RaEN). Collectively, these networks contribute to creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for staff and students.

In September 2023, we hosted an annual intersectional event to connect students and staff across MVLS, fostering peer connections and inclusivity.

 In 2023/24, we expanded Rainbow Office Hours (ROH) to include 23 staff across UofG, with Dumfries adopting it in 2024. Similarly, the NN, with a vibrant 725-member Teams network provided Neurodiversity Networking Hours to support staff and students, creating an environment to connect and feel understood.

We expanded our intersectional offering by collaborating across networks, organising events that challenge ideas, e.g., Decentring White practices in Psychology focused on Autism and Ethnicity and had expert guest speakers with 40+ students in attendance.

RaEN organised an employability seminar featuring speakers from the global majority speaking about the unique challenges they navigated, and sharing tips for students, supporting Pillar 3 of the MVLS Education Strategy. This was a very popular events with exceptional student feedback and attendance of 150+. SPN has now committed to annual funding.

Our work has influenced and supported policy and strategy. RaEN led the Say My Name initiative, encouraging respectful interactions (adopted by 34+ staff). RaEN also led on revising SPN job advertisements (430+ views and implemented at Durham and St Andrews) to widen diversity, ensuring inclusive language to attract applicants from underrepresented groups. We presented curriculum decolonisation resources at the British Psychological Society’s DART-P conference. Since this talk, four institutions have contacted ZGM for support and collaboration. Additionally, RaEN supports SPN staff to decolonise their work, supporting the Learning & Teaching Strategy and our External Examiners have described our efforts as sector leading.

Led by the NN, this year the Lived Experience Reference Group was established, being integral in incorporating participatory research guidelines. The RaEN Student Advisory Panel has shaped EDI policy and organising events; we successfully lobbied SPN executive management for speaker fees for guest speakers from minoritised groups This led us to invite 9 speakers in 23/24 compared to 3 previously.

Lastly, our EDI practices have had significant impact. We authored a preprint and additional guidance on how to implement ROH. This was presented at AdvanceHE’s 2024 EDI Colloquium and will feature in QAA’s Student Wellbeing resources and ROH has been adopted by Edinburgh, Bournemouth, and Teesside. Work from the NN on supporting disabled and neurodivergent students with lecture capture was featured in wonkHE, SEDA blog, and was the basis of ENs Annual Disability Lecture at Cambridge.

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2024 Highly Commended 

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Mrs Lorraine Waddell – School of Health and Wellbeing

Through creative engagement methods and skill sharing, Lorraine has helped to empower and integrate people within SHW, the University, and beyond and has helped support and amplify the voices of under-represented communities. Lorraine has championed the Deaf community, raising awareness amongst her colleagues and running initiatives such as running British Sign Language cafes where staff and students can meet face to face to practice sign language, or online via the SHW BSL Teams site (72 members), and with community groups who visit the Byres Community Hub. 

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Dr Lynsay Crawford - School of Health and Wellbeing

She was nominated by colleagues and our medical students for the NES Medical Directorate Awards in 2024 and was runner up in the EDI category and highly commended in the Inspirational Role Model category.

In 2023-24 she has achieved the following:

  • Conversation Cafes bring together students and those in recovery from addiction. Over tea and biscuits, the 2 groups have guided conversations enabling students to better understand the lived experiences of those in the recovery community.
  • The Human Library: Lynsay led on making Glasgow the first medical school in the world to embed reading sessions with The Human Library into their curriculum.
  • The Good Life Group: Lynsay integrated sessions on communicating with people with learning disabilities to the curriculum and has worked with colleagues to enhance this teaching. The Good Life group are a team of learning-disabled actors who provide training for various stakeholders, including medical students.
  • Introduced a range of sessions involving people with lived experience from marginalised groups in society.

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2024 Award Nominees

  • Hollie Jackson Ireland – School of Infection and Immunity
  • Medic Insight Glasgow – School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing
  • Luiz Santos – School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine
  • Oluwatobi Oni, Teresa Abonambugre, Joy Aiyepeku and Dr Samuel Owusu Achiaw – School of Health and Wellbeing
  • Dr Parini Mankad - School of Infection and Immunity
  • Dr Maria Afonso - School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine
  • Dr Louise Mitchell - School of Cancer Sciences
  • Dr Asma Ahmed – School of Cancer Sciences
  • Miss Sara Baumert – School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health
  • EDI ECR Group - School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine
  • Dr Saeeda Bhatti - School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing
  • Miss Jenny Crow – MVLS Education Hub
  • Dr Emily May Armstrong – School of Molecular Biosciences
  • Dr Lesley Graham - School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health

First published: 9 December 2024

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