LSTM Staff Awards
Celebrating excellence in all sectors of staff life - from academia and public/ community engagement, to communications and collaboration.
The LSTM Staff Awards are held to recognise the hard work, dedication and contributions of staff across LSTM, both in the UK and around the world.
The 2024 staff awards ceremony took place as part of our 125th anniversary celebrations at the staff event in Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery. It was an opportunity to celebrate excellence in all sectors of staff life – from academia and education to mentorship and equity.
All LSTM staff were invited to nominate colleagues to any of the Award categories, which are aligned to our values of inclusivity, integrity, partnership and impact.
Read on for more detail about each of our Award winners.
Education Excellence Award – Mark Iddon
This award recognises significant commitment to excellence in the delivery or support of teaching, learning and enhancing the learning experience. Mark was nominated by several colleagues for his contributions to driving forward LSTM’s capability to deliver uniquely engaging teaching experiences through his support to the new Immersive Learning Suite. Mark has championed the development and promotion of this facility – both internally and externally – and produced material that crosses disciplines to create interactive and immersive learning scenarios which have received excellent feedback from students. His skills, creativity and can-do attitude were commended by judges, along with his commitment to delivering excellence in education.
Research Team of the Year – the LIGHT Research Uptake Team
This award is to recognise to the research team who has made an outstanding contribution to advancing knowledge or ensuring that LSTM’s research is embedded into practice. It was awarded to the LIGHT Research Uptake Team – Dr Kerry Millington, Dr Taghreed El-Hajj and Joy Gilroy for their policy engagement work, which they ensure is based on the best available evidence. Their contributions to the project have seen a number of achievements in the past year, facilitating a gender-responsive approach to increasing male engagement in TB prevention and care and encouraging WHO to recognise the global male dominance of TB. The judges noted the impact of the team’s work with partners in Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda and with the African Institute for Development Policy as well as their commitment to the LSTM values.
Societal Engagement Award – Dr Motto Nganda
The Societal Engagement Award was introduced to acknowledge outstanding achievements for initiatives demonstrating tangible societal impact. It was awarded to Dr Motto Nganda for his project “Beyond Glass Walls – Strengthening Knowledge Exchange with LSTM’s Global Community living in Liverpool”. The project, which was funded as part of LSTM’s 125th anniversary project series, showcased LSTM’s research and activities and sought to build networks and connections between diaspora of LSTM partner countries and staff and students from LSTM. It was a valuable opportunity to engage with the Cameroonian, Ghanaian, Sierra Leonean and Kenyan diaspora communities in an accessible way. LSTM’s work was presented through posters, video presentations and tours of LSTM's facilities, including the herpetarium, along with a ‘World Café’ social and networking event. Several nominations from colleagues applauded Motto’s proactivity and commitment demonstrated by his work on this project.
Equity Champion – LGBTQ+ Network Committee
The Equity Champion prize was awarded to recognise outstanding achievements in promoting and enhancing equity and inclusion activities across LSTM. The LGBTQ+ Committee Network was presented with the award for its work in providing a safe and supportive space for individuals in LSTM, through regular meetings, social gatherings and peer support sessions as well as for their efforts in actively engaging with external networks and organisations to advocate for rights and representation. The Committee was commended by the judges for its instrumental role in promoting and enhancing equity and inclusion activities in LSTM.
Highly commended: Dr Uzochukwu Egere, Samia Benbrih, Lucy Tomlinson and all members of the Race Equity Action Group.
Citizenship Award – Emma Reid
The Citizenship Award celebrates acts of compassion and kindness within the LSTM community and rewards individuals who have gone beyond their job description to act as a catalyst for change or challenge the status quo. It was presented to Emma Reid for her role in pushing forward laboratory based sustainability in the school. Emma pursues this aim on top of her contracted role and in addition to supporting multiple other working groups. She created and leads the Green Lab leads network, routinely exploring ways to improve efficiency and reduce wastage of resources and consumables used in the labs.
Highly commended: BAME Network
Contribution of the Year – Emergency Obstetric and Quality of Care Unit
This award was presented to recognise an exceptional contribution from an individual or team that has brought about a significant positive outcome for LSTM. The Emergency Obstetric and Quality of Care Unit was nominated for its Midwifery Educator Continuous Professional Development Programme for low and middle income countries. The programme comprises 20 hours of self-directed online learning and a three-day practical component, designed to improve educators’ competencies in teaching techniques, students’ assessments, mentoring, effective feedback, reflective practice and digital innovations in teaching & learning. The package has significantly improved knowledge, skills and confidence of participants and to date has been accessed by 87,760 nursing and midwifery educators across 54 countries globally.
Highly commended: Karen Eves
Mentorship Award – Prof Sally Theobald
The Mentorship Award was presented to recognise an individual who has shown an outstanding commitment to mentoring, developing and supporting staff and/or students. Prof Sally Theobald received this award for her unwavering support of women in science, demonstrating an approach to mentoring that creates opportunities within her team that is fair, transparent and reflective of individual skills and expertise. She provides both professional and personal support, actively promotes research by junior staff and is committed to raising the profile of research scientists from the global south. The effectiveness of Sally’s mentorship is borne out by the careers forged by those she has supported, in LSTM as well as research institutes and Ministries of Health around the globe.
Staff Excellence Award – Faculty Secretariat, Biological Sciences – Maria Grimes, Clare O’Neill and Claire Stephens
This award celebrates outstanding activities within our professional services, technical and other supporting teams that promote collegial behaviours which and contribute to the success of LSTM and create a positive culture. The Secretariat Team in the Faculty of Biological Sciences received multiple nominations from colleagues for their invaluable support and willingness to go the extra mile for colleagues in the faculty, regardless of role or seniority. Their supportive, pro-active approach and collaborative ways of working are appreciated by everyone they come into contact with. The team provide excellent administrative support, including comprehensive travel arrangements, and are thoughtful in remembering the small touches – remembering birthdays and celebrating colleagues’ achievements. The pastoral support they provide to new or younger staff and students is appreciated by many, with the team described as the ‘unsung heroes’ of the faculty.
Partnership of the Year – Writing on the Wall
With so many examples of outstanding partnership, LSTM wishes to recognise all of those who have enhanced our work with their fantastic collaboration and support.
This award was presented to Writing on the Wall for their commitment to diversity and inclusion, promoting change whilst highlighting and actively tackling avoidable and unfair differences in health. They work to provide spaces where underrepresented voices are encouraged, written about and their stories shared was recognised in supporting LSTM's values to shine in our community in Liverpool.
