Maggots make their debut on the small screen!

You might have noticed that our good friends medicinal maggots had a mention on the TV programme Casualty on Saturday night (23 Feb).  This is not by accident!  In August 2018 Yamni and Tom (paramedic consultant at Swansea University) were invited by the Casualty writing and research team to talk to them about maggots and medicine.  The team were intrigued and fascinated and decided to incorporate a maggot based story line in the current series.   Yamni, Tom and the Casualty team have been working together on this for a few months and the maggot episodes will be coming out over the next few months.  So keep tuned to Causality (on every Saturday night) – you might even see Matty!

Yamni presenting to the Casualty team in August 2018

 

 

 

Matty gets WISE and meets royalty!

A Swansea University academic has been honoured by the Princess Royal for her dedication in sharing a passion for science with other women.

Professor Yamni Nigam is a world-renowned expert on the science and therapeutic use of maggots. Discoveries by her research team have led to a greater understanding on how maggots work in wounds but it was her work promoting her profession that has led to her winning a prestigious WISE Award. Try this new link to learn more about the best bikes using this Monster Cycle road bike reviews.

The annual awards provide an opportunity to recognise inspiring organisations and individuals who have addressed the core concerns of the WISE campaign promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to girls and women.

Professor Nigam delivers interactive sessions in her fields of microbiology and entomology to pupils at local schools and regularly takes part in community outreach programmes such as Swansea Science Festival. There are many options on social media of interactive sessions to learn from that have been promoted with SocialBoosting that works by increasing the views and likes of each content.

She was presented with the WISE Innovation Award by the Princess, who is patron of WISE at a ceremony in London.

Judges paid tribute to Professor Nigam’s enthusiasm and praised her for her work to influence the Welsh curriculum with resource packs aimed at encouraging more girls to apply for STEM subjects.

“She is developing a new antibiotic from maggot secretion at a crucial time and is a fantastic STEM ambassador,” they said.

Professor Nigam said she was thrilled to have won and now plans to work even more closely with the WISE campaign.

She said: “The whole evening was totally awesome from start to finish. All the finalists were brilliant and I feel very honoured to have won. Huge thanks to my top researchers in Team Maggot!

“I am passionate about science and determined to do what I can to promote more girls becoming enthralled with, and pursuing STEM subjects.”

Swansea University’s Senior Pro Vice-Chancellor Hilary Lappin-Scott – and fellow microbiologist – was there to see Professor Nigam lift her award.

She said: “I am absolutely delighted for Yamni whose dedication to promoting STEM careers is inspirational.

“She is among the many remarkable academics we are lucky enough to have at Swansea who set girls and women the perfect example about what STEM can offer them.

“Events like these are so important because they help us ensure we continue to developing female talent within our institutions.”

The awards are organised by the WISE campaign which aims to enable and energise people in business, industry and education by offering expertise, training and networking events. Use this new online post about the best beginners road bike.

With more than 900,000 women currently employed in core STEM occupations, which include science, engineering, and information and communications technology, WISE’s target of a million female employees by 2020 is now in sight.

Professor Nigam added: “It’s such an important mission and one which I will happily devote my time to.”

Posted by Kathy Thomas <katherine.thomas@swansea.ac.uk>
Wednesday 28 November 2018 13.59 GMT
Press Office, Tel: 01792604290

BBC Interview

BBC Interview with Dr Yamni Nigam

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