Women take centre stage at ground breaking healthcare conference
FollowOver 50% of the speakers are prominent females in the scientific healthcare field at the ‘World Research and Innovation Congress – Pioneers in Healthcare’ event, Steigenberger Grandhotel, Brussels, 5 and 6 June, 2013
Despite playing a significant role in science and healthcare throughout the ages, women globally are under-represented in this sector. A recent article in Nature magazine explains that there is still a scientific ‘gender gap’ with women continuing to face discrimination including disparities in pay and funding. (Helen Shen, 6/3/13)
Professor Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the European Commission, is the keynote speaker on the session Women in Science, addressing some of the key challenges in attracting women to this sector. Professor Glover will be joined by Professor Teresa Lago, Universidade do Porto, Portugal, founding member of the ERC Scientific Council and former Chair of the ERC gender balance working group.
Professor Glover says “While the 19th Century has been the Age of Engineering and the 20th Century the one of Chemistry and Physics, the 21st Century is going to be the Age of Biology. Facing the challenges of an Ageing Society in Europe and still major basic health challenges in the Developing World, research helps to come up with solutions for our well-being. This includes exciting developments in areas such as synthetic biology, personalised medicine, vaccine research and other fields. The presentation will highlight in particular how important it is to enthuse young people to choose a career in health science.