BCHC Celebrates International Women’s Day at the Visibility Awards

Today, members of the BCHC attended Aberystwyth University’s Visibility Awards, which celebrates under-represented groups and their contributions towards research culture. Two members of the Hoffmann lab were awarded: Dr. Josephine Forde-Thomas (PDRA) and Dr. Sarah Davey (PDRA).

Jo is an invaluable member of the Department of Life Sciences, the Barrett Centre for Helminth Control, AU’s Early Career Research community and my schistosomiasis research team. Over the last few years, I have had the pleasure of watching Jo grow into a confident research leader and mentor to our undergraduate and post-graduate students. It is especially gratifying to hear how our students have learned so much from Jo and how her efforts in teaching them to conduct robust science has paid off once they leave AU.

Jo also has initiated strong research collaborations with groups within and outside of the UK; these collaborations have led to substantial contract research income for AU and newly awarded research grants for my team. She tirelessly co-develops novel methods for advancing her research objective and is quite open in sharing them with other members of the wider International Parasitology Community. This clearly shows Jo’s natural collaborative nature for advancing global agendas.

I am nominating Jo for a Visibility Award as she represents an amazing example of scientific authority, nurturing mentor, collaborative inventor and well-respected team member. To witness Jo accomplish all of this while raising two young children is humbling and inspiring.

~ Prof. Karl Hoffmann (nomination for Dr. Jo Forde-Thomas)

Sarah is a new ECR within DLS, the Barrett Centre for Helminth Control and my schistosomiasis research team. Since obtaining her PhD in 2024, it has been incredibly impressive to witness Sarah’s growth as a self-taught computational biologist making transformative impacts on method/tool development for studying parasitic worms that cause deadly human and animal diseases. These impacts have contributed to AU’s ability to secure new grant income and have led to the most sophisticated approaches in characterising parasite biology being used today.

Sarah is one of the most methodical and careful scientists I have had the pleasure of working with and her modest and humble demeanour makes Sarah an exceptional collaborator/colleague to her peers within and outside of AU. Her trouble-shooting skills are exceptional and I am often impressed at how easy it is for Sarah to work between scientific disciplines in solving complex problems.

Sarah tirelessly offers her expertise and assistance in the training of AU students and staff while simultaneously volunteering in local charities throughout Aberystwyth and looking after her two rescued dogs. She is well deserving of an AU Visibility Award and I am very proud to nominate her for one.

~ Prof. Karl Hoffmann (nomination for Dr. Sarah Davey)

The Visibility Awards, hosted by the Women In Research Network (WIRN), celebrate women and non-binary individuals whose contribution to research at the university may ordinarily go unnoticed. The award, which has no single winner, was awarded to thirty-three individuals across the university this year. In addition to our research staff, we would also like to congratulate the members of our technical team who were awarded: Dr. Susan Girdwood, Helen Phillips and Heledd Morgan.

Our sincere congratulations go to all awardees for their achievements. Details of their work and nominations will be displayed in the Iris de Freitas room at the Hugh Owen library within the next few weeks.