Twenty female scientists have been selected to take part in a programme to help more women achieve senior research positions.

Those chosen to take part in the inaugural SUSTAIN programme, run by the Academy of Medical Sciences, will take part in a year-long programme of training, mentoring and peer networking around research.

The winners all currently hold an research fellowship from either the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal Society or the Medical Research Council.

¡°Women often face a different set of challenges to their male colleagues in their career, or they approach them differently,¡± said Susan Wray, member of the SUSTAIN¡¯s? reference group and professor of physiology at the University of Liverpool.

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?¡°SUSTAIN has been designed to be relevant and applicable to women¡¯s needs¡±, she added.

One of the first academics selected for the scheme is Soma Meran, clinical senior lecturer at Cardiff University¡¯s School of Medicine and University Hospital of Wales.

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¡°Fairly few people are able to understand the complexities and challenges of juggling a clinical and research career alongside being a mother,¡± she said.

¡°At times it has been difficult to find the necessary advice, mentorship and empowerment needed,¡± adding that she hoped the scheme would offer ¡°a structured and tailored programme of training and mentorship which will enable me, and others like me, to further develop strategies to continue to progress in this field.¡±

Li Chan, MRC and Academy of Medical Sciences Tenure-track clinician scientist, Centre for Endocrinology, Queen Mary University of London

Atlanta Cook, MRC Career Development Fellow, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh

Alessia David, MRC Clinical Research Fellow, Centre for Bioinformatics, Imperial College London

Janet Deane, Royal Society University Research Fellow, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge

Sarah Flanagan, Sir Henry Dale Fellow, Medical School, University of Exeter

Hayley Jones, Research Fellow in Medical Statistics, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol

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Sandra McAllister, Academic Clinical Lecturer, Centre for Experimental Medicine, Queen's University Belfast

Rebecca Morris, Royal Society University Research Fellow, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford

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Elin McCormack, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow, Space Science & Technology Dept, RAL Space

Soma Meran, MRC Clinician Scentist Fellow, Institute of Nephrology, Cardiff University

Linda O'Keeffe, Research Associate, Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol

Kathleen O'Reilly, Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London

Nayia Petousi, Clinical Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford

Sheena Ramsay, MRC Fellow, Department of Primary Care & Population Health, University College London

Esther Sammler, SCREDS Clinical Lecturer, MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, University of Dundee

Alexandra Santos, MRC Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Paediatric Allergy, King's College London

Zania Stamataki, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow, Medical School, University of Birmingham

Nathalie Vriend, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge

Aoife Waters, MRC Clinical Scientist, Institute of Child Health, University College London

Emma Yu, NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Cardiology, Addenbrooke¡¯s Centre for Clinical Investigation, University of Cambridge

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