Celebrating International Women's Day 2024

Each year, on the eighth of March, people globally observe International Women’s Day to honour the significant contributions and accomplishments of women, and to rally efforts towards attaining gender equality across diverse social, cultural, political, and economic domains.

At the Faculty of Medicine, we deeply esteem our extraordinary and inspiring women, who play indispensable roles as members of our student, alumni, academic, professional staff and wider UQ communities.

These women not only actively challenge the University’s norms and structures, but also make ground-breaking changes daily through their award-winning teaching, innovative social and cultural initiatives, and research with worldwide impact.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is Count Her In, so we took the opportunity to speak with six of our faculty members to learn what drives and inspires them in their work.

Dr Taylor Dick

For School of Biomedical Sciences' Dr Taylor Dick, there has always been an interest in science and movement.

“All through university my plan was to apply to medical school, with the goal of becoming a clinician or surgeon – research wasn’t really on my radar. It wasn’t until the very final semester of my undergraduate degree that I stumbled upon a biomechanics lab that combined my love of science and movement.

“Soon after this I started my PhD, and the rest is history.”

Following her PhD in Canada, Dr Dick moved to the United States to conduct her post-doctoral fellowship in biomedical engineering, where she researched the design and application of wearable assistive devices such as exoskeletons and prosthetics to augment and restore movement. She is now utilising these learnings as group leader of the Neuromuscular Biomechanics Laboratory.

“My team is interested in using experimental and modelling tools to understand how movement underpins health, disease, and evolution.

“I am also a passionate supporter of women in STEM, having co-led a successful Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship Grant from the Federal Government to engage high school girls in STEM and biomechanics. Although today we are seeing more females study STEM at university in Australia than ever before, this is unfortunately not translating to our workforce where women remain noticeably underrepresented.

“Women and girls in education and industry environments fosters innovation and creativity. Identifying and removing the barriers to women engaging in education and careers, particularly in the STEM fields should remain a fierce priority.”

Dr Taylor Dick

Dr Riitta Partanen

Associate Professor Riitta Partanen

For Associate Professor Riitta Partanen her focus is all about equity in the regions.

As head of The University of Queensland’s Rural Clinical School, her passion lies in rural medical education and growing the rural medical workforce, by providing rich, immersive rural clinical learning for our medical students and supporting them in the communities.

“My role as a GP, an academic and a mother not only provide me with insights into the intersection of healthcare, education and familial life, but have also provided me with a unique perspective on the challenges and achievements of women in these diverse areas.

“International Women’s Day provides a platform to celebrate the contributions of women in medicine and healthcare and reflect on the progress towards gender equality. But also recognises that much more needs to be done - in general practice we need to be advocating for more inclusive policies, practises and funding models that support women and improve gender pay gaps.

“As a mother, International Women’s Day reminds me of the challenges of balancing my various academic and clinical roles, with family responsibilities. Thanks to a very supportive home system, I was able to progress my career, but this is not available to all women when working in rural medicine. We need to use International Women’s Day as a chance to discuss, promote and advocate for more supportive structures and resources for women so they can flourish and thrive.

“Above all, International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate the contribution to breaking down gender barriers, promoting inclusivity and inspiring others to reach their goals.”

Associate Professor Aideen McInerney-Leo

For Frazer Institute’s Associate Professor Aideen McInerney-Leo, it was a babysitting job that really sparked her interest in her research.

“Growing up in Ireland, I was always interested in science, but genetics piqued my interest as a teenager when I babysat a girl with cystic fibrosis.

“In my undergraduate I had a growing realisation that the lab was not for me, so I pursued a Masters in Genetic Counselling which combined my passion for genetics with my desire to make a difference in peoples’ lives.

“I worked in clinical positions and research in the United States before moving to Australia. I now lead the Integrating Genomics into Medicine group at the Frazer Institute within the Faculty of Medicine.”

Dr McInerney-Leo admits that genetic counselling is a female dominated profession.

“There is a lot of girl power! We encourage and motivate each other every day. Creating a nurturing, supportive environment, which empowers people to reach their professional and personal goals is my primary motivator as a mentor.

“I chair the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee at the Frazer Institute so this year’s theme is particularly close to my heart. We are slowly moving towards gender equity in Australia, but we need to bring all women with us on the journey, especially those facing additional barriers due to their assigned gender at birth, their sexuality, their ancestry, their abilities/disabilities, their skin colour, or their beliefs.

“International Women’s Day is an opportunity to increase awareness of the challenges faced by women from diverse backgrounds to promote inclusion.”

Associate Professor Aideen McInerney-Leo

Dr Centaine Snoswell

For Dr Centaine Snoswell, it was about how to make practical changes to how we deliver healthcare.

It was her work as a hospital pharmacist that drew her to the research area of health economics – exploring the economic viability and sustainability of telehealth, virtual health and pharmacist services in the Australian context.

“I love my research area and find that it is increasingly relevant since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has become vitally important for healthcare to be delivered in a more flexible way.”

In her role as a Senior Research Fellow in Health Economics for the Centre of Health Services Research, Dr Snoswell notes that women are an integral part of the workforce and in academia they make up the higher proportion of the workforce than many other sectors.

“It is so important to value the contributions of women, and to invest in them by promoting flexible work arrangements that enhance their ability to be included in all stages of the professional ladder.

“Like any team member, the women on our teams bring unique perspectives, experience, intelligence, creativity, and viewpoints to projects that enrich our overall work.

“We need to promote and encourage men to adapt their work lives and adopt flexible work arrangements so that they can be better support the women in their lives to participate in their chosen field. The inclusion of women in the workforce will continue to meet resistance while women maintain a majority of childcare, home labour and social labour responsibilities in our society.”

Associate Professor Lata Vadlamudi

For Associate Professor Lata Vadlamudi it was the complexity of managing women with epilepsy that sparked her research interest.

“I have consistently heard from women with epilepsy that their hormonal fluctuations can affect their seizure control. Apart from during pregnancy, there are no resources for women with epilepsy across their life course from menarche to menopause, so my work looks at improving the quality of life for women with epilepsy.”

Through her roles as Senior Staff Specialist in Neurology at the RBWH, Epileptologist within the Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, and Brain, Neurology and Mental Health Theme leader at the UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Dr Vadlamudi knows the importance of every woman feeling acknowledged and appreciated for their own journey in life.

“Counting her in to me is about giving every woman the opportunity to shine, and acknowledgment of each woman’s unique life journey. We need a greater appreciation of the impact of time off work, during the peak of one’s career.”

“When you have had time out of research, it can take many years to re-build your research portfolio. I believe that acknowledging each person’s differing circumstances is essential for counting her in."

Associate Professor Lata Vadlamudi

Dr Dwan Vilcins

For Environmental Epidemiologist Dr Dwan Vilcins it has always been about her enthusiasm for helping people.

“I found environmental health by accident – I was completing my Masters of Public Health and environmental health was a core unit. Within the first two weeks of the course, I knew this is where I wanted to be. It brought together my passion for the environment with my passion for helping people.

Dr Vilcins believes that one of the best things about working in research is getting to work with such diverse people.

“As a group leader of environmental epidemiology at the Children’s Health and Environment Program, I lead a small -but amazing - team of research assistants and students on a range of projects that study children’s exposure to environmental hazards, like air pollution or chemicals.

“Environmental health is a global issue, meaning both my team and collaborators come from all walks of life. Equality to me means that everyone gets a seat at the table and the chance to bring their personal experiences and perspectives to work.

“This is not isolated to only International Women’s Day, it also means including the communities and participants we work with in conversations about the work we do, and how to communicate back to communities. Two-way conversations and uniting, leads to richer, more meaningful research.”