The women in Wales leading the fight against Covid.

On International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Deputy Minister and Chief Whip Jane Hutt highlighted some of the amazing women that are leading the fight against Covid in Wales and the importance of studying STEM.

Jane Hutt stated:

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vital role science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) play in the world today. Never before have STEM professionals been more in the public eye.

It’s vitally important that on International Day of Women and Girls in Science we increase the visibility, importance and appeal of science for all.

By sharing stories of STEM female role models during the pandemic, we can hopefully inspire and motivate more girls and women to study STEM, setting them on a path to a rewarding career.

Two women in particular that I wanted to highlight are Dr Catherine Moore and Dr Emma Hayhurst.

Dr Moore is a Consultant Clinical Scientist, who led the effort to establish COVID-19 testing in Wales within a month of it being recognised as a new coronavirus. This resulted in the Public Health Wales microbiology laboratory at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff becoming the second in the UK to be able to test for the virus.

Dr Hayhurst is a lead scientist on a project at the University of South Wales to develop a rapid test for COVID-19. The test is quick and portable, it doesn’t need to be processed in a lab and the results can be available in less than 30 minutes.

Jane Hutt concluded:

There are numerous examples of STEM female role models in Wales who have come to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic and I want to pay tribute to all their amazing work.

What better day than International Day of Women and Girls in Science, to show how important it is to study a STEM subject but more importantly to showcase to the world that these are some of the amazing women leading the fight against Covid-19 in Wales.”