Amanda Marie is the Chair of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Panel of the Society and the Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement at Emory University Laney Graduate School.  Her traditional scientific training is in clinical technology (pharmacological and application-based) and biomedical engineering. Dr. James is dedicated to creating and strengthening an inclusive, respectful, and intellectually challenging environment for all scholars.

Dr Amy Vincent (She/Her) is a Newcastle University Academic Track Fellow. Amy’s research focuses on mitochondrial dysfunction in neuromuscular diseases. Amy’s passion for EDI was ignited when she became the chair of a working group focused on EDI issues for postgraduate and early career researchers at Newcastle University, as part of the Faculty of Medical Sciences Equality project. She is an advocate for women in STEM and for LGBTQI+ in STEM, being involved initiatives such as 500 Women Scientists, 500 Queer Scientists and having been a speaker at the 2022 Soap Box Science.

Dr. Elizabeth Kaweesa is a Postdoctoral research associate in the NIH Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) program at University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research focuses on determining the cytotoxic activity and mechanism of action of natural compounds in high grade serous ovarian cancer as potential chemotherapeutic drugs.

Elizabeth serves as the Early Career and EDI Representative on the Publications Committee of the Biochemical Society.

Gavin McStay is a Senior Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences. His research focuses on mitochondrial function in biology ranging from evolution to human health and disease. He graduated from the University of Leeds with a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD from the University of Bristol. Followed by post-doctoral training in the USA at the La Jolla Institute of Allergy & Immunology, St Jude Children’s Hospital and Columbia University. His first lecturing position was at the New York Institute of Technology in New York before moving to Staffordshire University in 2018 and then Liverpool John Moores University in 2022. He has participated in several initiatives to support LGBT+ scientists, including 500 Queer Scientists and out in STEM (oSTEM) and the LGBT+ STEMinar annual conference. Gavin is also actively involved in science outreach and currently is on the organising team for the Chester SciBar. 

I have worked in the Human Resources field for almost 20 years, worked with The Metropolitan Police Service for 10 years and the Biochemical Society for 10. I have a BA in Business Administration and a Masters in Human Resource Management.

I am Black British, with Nigerian parents, who were diplomats, and this was an introduction into different cultures, countries and an appreciation of how the things and circumstances that make us different can be harnessed to educate us. This was my introduction to diversity and inclusion.

Working as a chambermaid in my younger years and then Ladbrokes also meant that I met a lot of people from different socio-economic backgrounds, coupled with my career and personal challenges gave me an understanding of inclusion and the limitations and barriers faced by many in Society.

Luminita Paraoan is a biochemist with significant experience in leadership gained from numerous leading and trustee roles in educational, charitable, and health organisations. Luminita leads the Ocular Molecular Biology and Mechanisms of Disease Group at Edge Hill University studying fundamental molecular processes and pathways underlying physiology of various eye tissues in health, ageing and degeneration with specific applications to age-related macular degeneration and cancer biology. She has an extensive collaborative network and research partnerships in Europe, Asia and the United States. Luminita has been a champion in promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) values, both in the University and in national and international professional organisations. Passionate about supporting young investigators, Luminita is an enthusiastic and dedicated mentor with a history of support and development of over 40 national and international students, postdoctoral researchers, and fellows. She is a founding member and active mentor for the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Global Mentorship Program and Developing Country Eye Researcher Fellowship Program, and the International Society for Eye Research (ISER) mentorship programme. She has recently been recognised as Gold Fellow by ARVO and served as ISER Vice-President (Europe).

As well as sitting on the EDI Advisory Panel, Luminita is a member of the Conferences Committee at the Society. Luminita holds a BSc/MSc degree from University of Bucharest, Romania, a PhD (Genetics) from the Romanian Academy of Science and a PhD (Biochemistry) from University of Liverpool and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

I am currently Co-Director of the EDI committee in the School of Pharmacy at UEA and Co-Chair of the Faculty of Science EDI committee. I am also a member of the University’s Race Equality Charter Committee.

I have been involved in EDI activities for the last 10 years. I initially set up and chaired the first Equality (now EDI) committee in the School of Pharmacy at UEA in 2012 and was on the Committee until 2017. As Chair, initial activities focused on gaining an Athena SWAN Bronze award, which was successful and we have maintained this award since then.

In the last 2 years, I have been involved in organising several activities in relation to POC. Within the School, we have been focused on widening participation, particularly in relation to POC. We organised a forum with BAME and non-BAME students on Decolonising the Curriculum and wider issues that affect POC in our School and in the university and I presented the results and suggested changes to staff at a School meeting.  We have invited external speakers to give talks attended by students and staff across the University, including most recently Stuart Lawrence. We were awarded a BSI EDI grant to fund an event tomorrow with external speakers called “Diverse experiences in Science”, open to all staff and students across the University.

I represent the Faculty of Science on the REC working groups and am currently gathering information from all of the Schools on activities relating to this.

Dr Emma Hargreaves completed her first degree in Biochemistry with a year in Industry, graduating in 2003 from the University of Kent. Emma went on to complete a PhD studying the emerging pharmacology of orphan GPCRs in the Clinical Pharmacology Group at the University of Cambridge. In 2020 Emma became a Lecturer in the School of Biosciences at the University of Kent.

Emma has published and presented nationally and internationally and her research has focused on control of mRNA translation during protein production in mammalian cells. In addition to her research interests, Emma contributes to teaching within the school and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Emma is the Digital and Blended Learning Lead for the Division of Natural Sciences and the Public Engagement Coordinator for the School of Biosciences.