On Friday, June 26, 2015 The Academy of Medical Sciences announced its inaugural group of participants for its SUSTAIN programme, a new programme that will work with women researchers to enable them to thrive in their independent research careers. Esther Sammler, a clinical lecturer in Neurology from Dario Alessi's group is amongst the first 20 participants in SUSTAIN. Esther, and all the participants, will be provided with an innovative programme of training and support to develop their leadership and career potential.



In an endeavour to combat the decline of female researchers progressing to senior roles in science, the Academy is focusing efforts to reverse this trend, through SUSTAIN, and ensure women in research are supported along their career to enable them to secure senior and leadership positions: SUSTAIN aims to provide training, mentoring and peer networking to help facilitate the advancement of women working in this field.



Esther was pleased to be selected: 'I am absolutely delighted to be able to participate in this amazing scheme. Success and failure in clinical research are certainly not all about gender, but combining my clinical training in neurology and the demands of a busy clinical service with research in the Alessi group and a family with 2 small children can be quite challenging. I am expecting the SUSTAIN programme to help me gain and keep the momentum I need to succeed as a clinical academic and to remind me that I am not the only one facing these tasks.'



Professor Alessi was similarly enthusiastic: 'I have every confidence that given Esther's dedication and now with her selection in the SUSTAIN programme, and the kind of support it provides, that this will undoubtedly accelerate her advancement in both a clinical and research setting here in Dundee.'