A significant gender gap has persisted throughout the years in STEM disciplines all over the world, and while the number of women taking part in higher education has increased significantly, women are still underrepresented in these fields, particularly at senior levels.
In honour of International Women's Day this Friday 8 March, we would like to recognise and celebrate women's contributions to the field of immunology by shining a spotlight on the inspiring women from our BSI committees – without them our work would not be possible!
Scroll down to their profiles below to find out more about how each of them started their career in immunology, their experiences in science and healthcare, and what advice they would give to other women and girls looking to have a career in STEM.
Please help us promote and celebrate diversity in immunology by sharing this page! You can also share your own message of support on International Women's Day using the hashtag #WomenInImmunology.
If you would like to read more articles like the above, please visit this page where we celebrate the women of our official journals Discovery Immunology, Immunotherapy Advances and Clinical & Experimental Immunology.
Dr Simone Cuff
Dr Simone Cuff is the Wales Representative in the BSI Member Representative Forum and a Research Integrity Auditor at Frontiers.
Dr Fiona Culley
Dr Fiona Culley is the Treasurer on our BSI Board of Trustees and a respiratory immunologist at Imperial College London.
Professor Deborah Dunn-Walters
Professor Deborah Dunn-Walters is a BSI Trustee and Professor of Immunology at the University of Surrey.
Jill Edmonds
Jill Edmonds is the Nursing Representative on our BSI-CIPN Steering Group and a Nurse Consultant at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Suzy Elcombe
Dr Suzy Elcombe is Deputy Chair of our BSI-CIPN Steering Group and a Consultant Immunologist at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.
Professor Tracy Hussell
Professor Tracy Hussell is BSI President and Director of the Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation at the University of Manchester.
Dr Rebecca McLean
Dr Rebecca McLean is the Veterinary Representative in our BSI Member Representative Forum, and a Postdoctoral Scientist at the Pirbright Institute.
Dr Julia Makinde
Dr Julia Makinde is the England Representative in our BSI Member Representative Forum and Lead Discovery Technology Scientist for Benevolent AI.
Dr Chloe Pyle
Dr Chloe Pyle is the Industry Representative on our BSI Member Representative Forum and a Senior Scientist at Virtus.
Dr Divya Shah
Dr Divya Shah is a BSI Trustee and Research Lead, Site and Systems at Wellcome.