Previous winners
Dr Chris Smith
Dr Elaine Cloutman-Green
I’ve been involved in science communication for almost ten years as part of my role as a healthcare scientist. It's always felt particularly important for me, as I work in a paediatric hospital, to communicate with my patients and members of the public about science and healthcare. I have been fortunate enough to run activities with individuals from all ages and backgrounds and to be inspired by their enthusiasm.
When it was suggested to me that I should nominate myself for the Furness Prize I was initially reticent, as I was nominating myself. I’m so glad that I did however as it has allowed me to talk about how important it is to be able to communicate science to patients and the public, as well as something I have found to be immensely personally rewarding.
[[widget:podcast:widget]]
Dr Hamzah Farooq
Hamzah has been involved in a wide range of activities throughout the year, in the UK and abroad, and the judges were particularly impressed by his commitment to delivering pathology-related training to undergraduates, postgraduate trainees, healthcare workers and members of the public, including giving a talk on ‘getting into combined infection training’ and developing educational videos on whole genome sequencing.
He also delivered tutorials on virological conditions to medical students and taught the basics of microbiological and virological laboratory techniques to postgraduate trainees. In addition, Hamzah has helped to raise awareness of infectious diseases and laboratory diagnostics. He presented several posters on infectious diseases including malaria, tuberculosis and HIV and also delivered talks entitled ‘introduction to HIV resistance and clinical cases’.
Here's what Hamzah had to say when he found out he had won this year's prize: "I feel very privileged to have been awarded this prize and aim to use this motivation to continue honing my skills and deliver further science communication activities in the future. Pathology is a field in which one works with a variety of multi-disciplinary teams and a diversity of patients. Communication between teams is vital in pathology for patients, healthcare workers and for members of the public to fully understand the pathological and diagnostic process. Only by communicating effectively and working together, can we aim to reduce the burden of disease and improve the quality of life of patients and the general public."
Dr Jacqueline McDermott
"My colleague suggested that I apply for the Furness Prize for Science Communication. I was a bit unwilling because I have never won a prize before so imagine how delighted I was to be the 2014 recipient! I know that public engagement is very important to the College so I consider it to be a great achievement that they thought my work at Centre of the Cell and with Fruit Fly Collective was outstanding and important. Winning this prize has given me even more motivation to carry on encouraging young people to get into science and to help improve communication within families affected by cancer."
[[widget:podcast:widget]]
Dr Matthew Clarke
Dr Matthew Clarke submitted a nomination for the Furness Prize at the suggestion and with the support of Dr Ali Robb (Consultant Microbiologist, Newcastle upon Tyne) who he had worked with for several years as part of the ‘Path to Success’ event and on other projects. On winning this year's prize, Matt said:
"It is a wonderful feeling to have won this year’s prize! I have been nominated on several other occasions years ago and was not successful so it is a very nice feeling and surprise! Thank you very much to the judges! Also, a huge thank you to the many friends, colleagues and teams I have worked with to enable my various projects to proceed – it could not have been done without all their input and hard work. Winning this prize will encourage me to continue pursuing my science communication projects with the general public, undergraduates and junior doctors. Having been forced to enter the virtual arena of event delivery due to COVID-19, I look forward to exploring and developing this format for other events in the future, helping to extend a wider reach to people who may be interested in knowing more about pathology and research, or who may be considering a career in the specialty."
Here are some of Matt's public engagement activities:
- A co-organiser of the RCPath/BDIAP Foundation & Undergraduate Taster Event for the past 2 years
- A founding organiser of the ‘Path to Success’ event in Newcastle since 2016
- one of four trainees (2 from the UK and 2 from the US) who authored the ‘Future of Pathology’ report and created blogs and tweets to promote the report
- A speaker for a Liverpool Medical Student Research Committee event
- Marked science projects written by college students from underprivileged backgrounds
- Interviewed Professor Sir James Underwood for the College’s video on ‘Histopathology: past, present and future’
- Facilitated the production of videos for Patient Safety Awareness Week
- Chaired the College’s virtual seminar series delivered by Professor Jo Martin called ‘The Art and Science of Practical Management’
- Published many articles in the ACP News and the College’s magazine, The Bulletin.
Dr Phillip (Pip) Nicolson
Dr Nicolson co-founded and now chairs the HaemSTAR network of UK haematology trainees. As well as enabling research studies to reach more patients, and helping numerous haematology registrars train in Principle Investigator skills, HaemSTAR has become a platform to enable young investigators with scientific ideas to realise those projects and deliver them. Furthermore, since March 2021, Pip has been treating patients with Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombocytopenia and Thrombosis (VITT) and collecting blood samples from them to use in research in order to understand its pathophysiology and natural history. His work in both of these fields has results in numerous studies and the publication of several research papers. Read on to find out more about Pip and what inspired him to apply for our Science Communication Prize.
[[widget:accordion:widget]]
Dr Vanessa Wong
Helen Turner
Katy Heaney
"I was delighted to be nominated for The Furness Prize to celebrate a year of great success for Lab Tests Online-UK and in recognition of public engagement work I have done since beginning my NHS career. Since winning the prize, I have recruited 3 members to the promotional and marketing team at Lab Tests Online-UK and recently attended the National Association for Patient Participation conference to speak directly to Patient Participation Group representatives about how we can support their GP practices. I am really excited to be planning our 10 year anniversary celebrations in October and look forward to being part of National Pathology Week and working with the college team."
[[widget:podcast:widget]]
Michelle Muscat
Not only was Dr Muscat in the final stages of a PhD that had a strong focus on the communication of pathology, but she had also published a novel where the main character was a Chemical Pathologist. Michelle developed and delivered numerous school workshops that explored a range of chemical pathology topics including blood tests, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Dr Muscat has also created teaching resources, writing a number of scientific publications on the best methods to communicate and teach pathology. Her very creative approach also enabled her to reach diverse audiences through poetry, theatre and social media. Overall, Michelle impressed the judges both with the quantity and quality of the science communication work she undertook.
Navin Mukundu Nagesh and Bogdan Chiva Giurca
2018 was the first year that undergraduates could be awarded the Furness Prize for Science Communication, and it was also the first time two nominees were awarded the prize.
Navin and Bogdan first engaged with the Royal College of Pathologists by attending the annual Pathology Summer School run by the College in 2016. They were inspired by the public engagement session delivered by Suzy Lishman and decided to get involved in National Pathology Week (NPW). They’ve organised activities for NPW ever since, and have, to date, engaged with over 1,750 members of the public and 500 school/college students across Devon and Cornwall. Their initial event in 2016 has inspired numerous students from across the UK to get involved in organising and supporting NPW over the years. One example is a series of events organised by students at UCL, who collaborated with Navin and Bogdan to raise awareness of careers in pathology across London. They were subsequently invited to deliver the “Public Engagement” session at the Pathology Summer School in 2017 where they shared experiences and offered support to attendees.
The two students have been involved in numerous other science communication activities including “Talk Cancer” which involved working with a local cancer charity to produce a book for cancer patients, written by cancer patients with honest reflections, monologues, poems and artwork to portray the range of emotions and thoughts during a cancer journey. A story was covered by ITV news charity Fixers and a short piece was recently aired. These are only a few examples of the huge range of high quality science communication projects and events these two inspiring students have developed and supported.