Awardees

Alongside her many political achievements, charitable work and advocacy for female leaders, Ms Gillard has made significant contributions to science and global health throughout her career. During her time as Prime Minister, she notably increased funding for medical research at the National Health and Medical Research Council and she introduced sustainable healthcare reforms, including the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

In her current role at the Wellcome Trust – a global charitable foundation that supports science to solve urgent health challenges – Ms Gillard leads efforts to advance research in areas that include infectious diseases, mental health and climate-related health impacts. Under her leadership, Wellcome has committed significant resources to understanding the links between climate and health, driving scientific innovation and influencing global policy to protect vulnerable populations. 

Ms Gillard is Patron of the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) and the Chair of Beyond Blue, a mental health charity in Australia. In 2017, she was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia for services to economic and social development in Australia. She was included in the BBC’s 100 Women list for 2018.

Mr Tuke has been a pioneer in orthopaedic engineering for five decades. He began his career as a Mechanical Engineering Apprentice at Imperial, progressing to Research Officer in the Biomechanics Unit within the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 1978, he co-founded Finsbury Orthopaedics to develop, manufacture and distribute more durable hip, knee and ankle replacements, designed to provide better function and reduce patient needs for further operations. In the 1980–90s, he co-developed the Medial Rotation Knee (MRK) with orthopaedic surgeon Michael Freeman. It was first implanted in 1994 and has been one of the best functional performing and least revised knee replacements ever since. He was instrumental in founding Corin Medical Ltd, pioneering Modern Hip Resurfacing and large diameter Ceramic hips. He sold the company to DePuy Orthopaedics in 2009 to widen the avenues for products. He then established MatOrtho to continue developing and manufacturing innovative medical devices. 

Mr Tuke’s work as a practical engineer has pioneered manufacturing processes, including sub-micron hip implant sphericity, improved instrumentation and novel use of materials. He has also contributed to over 40 patents, invented the Tuke Saw, has funded and mentored several successful startup companies, and continues to drive invention and careful innovation aiming to ensure patients are able to lead active lives. 

Mr Tuke is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Professor Cathcart is an expert in credit risk with numerous publications in both high-impact journals and practitioner publications. Alongside her own academic work, she played a key role in the launch and design of Imperial’s flagship MSc Finance programme in 1998 and has been its Academic Director for the past 13 years, in addition to leading the introduction and development of three further finance Master’s programmes. These courses contribute over £20 million annually to the Business School and achieve a 95% graduate employment rate within three months. Professor Cathcart is also a leading voice for women in finance academia; she recently spoke at the ‘Sidelined in Science’ workshop, co-founded the Gender Committee within the Business School and has advanced the School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives.

Professor Cohen is distinguished for experimental research to identify, measure and enhance the fundamental properties governing the performance of functional materials for energy efficient computation and refrigeration. Between 2008–2013 and 2019–2022, she was Head of Experimental Solid State Physics, one of the largest research groups at Imperial, as well as Physics Director of External Liaison, setting up a vibrant Industry Club. She was the first Academic Ambassador for Women in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the inaugural recipient of the Julia Higgins Medal in recognition of her activities to promote equality. As well as her substantial contribution to the Department of Physics she has served Imperial as an Imperial Consul, and more recently as an Associate Provost of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, aiming to encourage respect and understanding of others more widely.

Mrs Edes began her career at Imperial in 1996 as the Full-Time MBA Administrator. She then went on to establish a Master’s level careers service for the Business School and has since progressed through several key roles, including Department Operations Manager. Over the years, she has played a vital part in ensuring the school runs smoothly whilst continuously supporting learning and research, from developing complex space plans, managing facilities and operational technology to acting as Project Director on several key new building and refurbishment developments. Under her leadership, the Business School has successfully completed numerous building projects, including the building of new teaching and research space at White City, the creation of an Executive Education suite in Roderic Hill and the continual development of all Business School spaces to enhance the Imperial experience for students, staff and faculty. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mrs Edes led the transformation of lecture theatres and office spaces to meet strict health and safety standards and played a key role in the ‘multimodal classroom project’, which allowed over 2,000 students to join hybrid classes. This resulted in student satisfaction reaching the highest level to date in 2020. The project won the Class of 2020 Innovation Award.

In 2023, Mrs Edes was awarded the Dean’s ‘Exceptional Contribution to the Business School’ Award. 

Dr Power began his Imperial career in 1998 as an undergraduate and went on to gain a PhD. He joined the staff of Imperial College Union in 2005 before moving to the Faculty of Engineering, then Registry, before undertaking leadership of the Central Education Office two years ago. Throughout these years, he has remained a key ally for students. He has served as a lay trustee of Imperial College Union for the past six years, providing guidance and nurturing important relationships; he is Secretary of the Exploration Board, supporting over 100 student-led expeditions to date; and he volunteers as the principal floor director at our graduation ceremonies, stewarding over 4,500 graduands per day. His extensive experience of both Imperial and the students’ union, as well as student information systems and the curriculum, has uniquely enabled Dr Power to coordinate institutional strategic projects and make outstanding contributions to improving the educational and wider experience of students across Imperial.

Dr Tsay works at the intersection of computational optimisation, machine learning and process systems engineering. He addresses complicated practical engineering challenges, such as demand-side flexibility for the power grid, accelerating chemical R&D, and certifying machine learning models. At the end of his PhD studies, he was awarded two prestigious fellowships in recognition of his innovative research: an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) David Clarke Fellowship and an Imperial College Research Fellowship. After just a few years at Imperial, his group’s interdisciplinary approach has gained him recognition across several fields, including computer science and process systems engineering. He has published 29 journal articles and 21 conference papers and gained further funding streams for his research.

In 2022, he received the W. David Smith Jr. Graduate Publication Award – the most prestigious award for PhD students in this field – and the COIN-OR Cup – which recognises the best contribution to open-source optimisation software. In 2024, he was awarded a BASF/Royal Academy of Engineering Senior Research Fellowship.

Professor Glocker's research contributions have led to the improvement of computational tools to support the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease in over 250,000 patients worldwide. His research has also been used for the generation of evidence for the benefits of AI in breast cancer screening, the identification of potential bias in chest X-ray disease detection models, and the development of policy and regulatory guidance on the use of AI in healthcare applications. These outcomes have been featured in mainstream media, gained attention from across the scientific community and resulted in successful collaborations with leading medical imaging companies. In 2016, Professor Glocker became the Scientific Adviser for Kheiron Medical Technologies, providing strategic consultancy on AI for breast cancer detection. In 2017, Professor Glocker partnered with a US company to create the HeartFlow-Imperial Research Lab, a novel academic and industrial relationship for translating cutting-edge research to real-world clinical application. He has also advised the UK government and the NHS on the use of AI for screening.

Professor Jeffers works at the interface of engineering and medicine with a focus on improving surgical treatment of osteoarthritis through research. His work on impaction for orthopaedic surgery led to the development of a hand-held, battery powered tool that reduces the risk of fracture during joint replacement. He also developed additive manufacturing to create bone health preserving knee implants. Both inventions led to the development of successful companies – Additive Instruments and OSSTEC, respectively. During his time at Imperial, he has built successful partnerships externally and internally. He initiated a relationship with Reinshaw Plc, resulting in a series of PhD opportunities, £5 million research funding, the formation of a spinout company and a major uplift to the company’s own revenue growth. He also contributed to the development of MedTechOne, a Wellcome Trust-funded partnership to establish a medical device quality management system for use by Imperial researchers, which has led to 37 invention disclosures, 15 industry collaborations and 13 patent applications amongst its many achievements. 

Dr Azuara’s work in embryonic stem cells is pioneering new ways of decoding fundamental processes that underlie early embryogenesis, advancing our understanding and treatment of infertility and developmental disorders. In 2006, Dr Azuara started an independent research lab at Imperial’s Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology. She is also an Associate Member of the Development and Stem Cell Interest Group at the Francis Crick Institute. Alongside her academic and scientific credentials, she takes on many other teaching, mentorship and leadership roles, including Equality, Diversity and Inclusion department lead, People and Culture Committee department chair, Postdoc and Fellows Champion, Concordat Implementation and Action Group member, and Researcher Development Committee member. Across all these roles, she is renowned for facilitating collaborations and scientific exchanges, establishing supportive community spirit, and helping others to forge their own unique career paths. 

Dr Horsburgh leads on Medical Education programmes for Imperial’s Education Development Unit and is Deputy Director of the Medical Education and Innovation Research Centre. She designs, develops and runs workshops aimed at developing teaching skills for medical faculty members and supervises postgraduate students within the Master’s in Education in University Learning and Teaching. Dr Horsburgh also leads a faculty development programme that enables students and early researchers to improve their education scholarship through seminars on medical education theory, practice and innovation frameworks as well as drop-in sessions and presentation practice. The training is grounded in evidence-based practice developed in partnership with patients, students and faculty. Dr Horsburgh also secured funding to set up three educational Communities of Practice in the Primary Care Education Team, which has led to an increase in educational research output. All her teaching is underpinned by her own pedagogic research.

Housed within the Department of Bioengineering, the group combines experimental and computational approaches to the study of the musculoskeletal system – bones, joints and muscles. The impact-driven interdisciplinary research team is dedicated to designing and testing solutions for its beneficiaries, including children and adults with limb loss, and people injured in conflict. Projects include prosthetics, smart wearable rehabilitation technology, and surgical implants. The wide expertise of the group – comprising clinicians, engineers and historians – creates a unique environment in which their technologies have tangible, clinical applications. The group has received grants of over £10 million in just two years, developed multiple patents, created three spinout companies and collaborated with Save the Children to open the first Centre for Paediatric Blast Injury Studies. They co-lead multiple equitable international collaborations with partners in Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Cambodia and Lebanon. New partnerships are currently in progress to help children injured in the 2023 Turkish earthquake and the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.