International Day of Women and Girls in Science
February 11, 2021
Today is the 6th annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science and to mark it we’d like to pay tribute to the efforts of all our female colleagues working in scientific roles across the Trust. Here we feature two of our esteemed colleagues who are leading the way in their fields and inspiring the next generation to choose a career in science. We’ll be publishing more in the February edition of Connect, so if you are a woman working in science at the Trust, please get in touch and share your career highlights. Please email vanya.rogers@nhs.net with your contact details if you’d like to get involved.
Jilly Croasdale, Head of Radiopharmacy and Associate Director Healthcare Science
As Head of Radiopharmacy, Jilly runs the operation for making medical isotopes for use in Nuclear Medicine studies. In her role as Associate Director, Healthcare Science she is the Lead Scientist, representing all the Healthcare Scientists who work for the Trust. She said: “I get a lot of satisfaction from driving forward new ideas and from getting things done. The team of people I have in my Radiopharmacy are brilliant. We’ve worked together to bring about real change and improvements in quality. I love being in a busy and energised environment, and thrive on new challenges. I enjoy working with my team, and feel like I’m making a difference.
Dr Tranprit Saluja, Consultant Microbiologist and Trust Infection Prevention and Control doctor.
Dr Saluja – known as Taran – has made fighting infection her life’s work. In addition to leading Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust’s Infection Control Service as IPC doctor since 2017, the accomplished microbiologist is also deputy chair of the regional infection control forum, and an honorary senior lecturer at Aston University. Her special interest is in the impact of infection on the body and how it can be fought off, antimicrobial stewardship and emerging antimicrobial resistance. When COVID hit last year Taran was at the forefront of the Trust’s response and has been splitting her time with a mix of clinical duties, on-call commitments, doing rounds and managing infection control.