Historically, people from marginalised backgrounds have been under-represented in STEMM sectors due to obstacles such as restricted access to professional networks and education, amongst other issues. However there are still success stories where individuals from marginalised groups play a large part in major medical breakthroughs. Think of the development of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, to which Kizzmekia Corbett, a black woman, made a major contribution. Her work emphasised the importance of representation and trust in modern healthcare systems.

Explore the innovations of Dr Hadiyah Nicole-Green, an African-American medical physicist renowned for inventing Laser-Activated Nanotherapy (LANT), an efficient and cost-effective method of treating cancer.

Medicine is often presented as a field built on progression, but its history tells a more complicated story. Discrimination has long shaped medical practice, affecting people differently based on factors such as race and social status. In many cases, those with the least power were not only denied proper treatment, but were also used in the name of scientific advancement.

Imagine going to the hospital, trusting that the technology used to diagnose you is completely accurate—only to find out it was never designed with people like you in mind. Hate it or not millions of patients today rely on artificial intelligence to guide life-changing medical decisions, from diagnosing diseases to determining who receives urgent care. The assumption is these systems are often seen as objective, precise, and free from human error. But what if that assumption is far from the truth?

Eight thousand and ninety-six. That’s not just an ordinary number. It’s the number of people in the UK waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.1 Last year, only 4,853 received their vital organ transplant. [1] Pause and read that again. More than three thousand people are still waiting. 3,243 to be precise. Still hoping. Still holding on for the call that, for too many, never comes. Every day, someone on that list takes their last breath—not because an organ transplant wasn't possible, but because there weren't enough organs from donors. But what if this crisis could be ended? That is the power of 3D bioprinting of organs.

Wearable technology has changed a lot in the past decade, going from simple fitness trackers to devices that can monitor important health data in real time. What used to require specialised equipment can now be done using small portable devices. This reflects a wide shift in innovative healthcare which focuses more on preventative healthcare and spotting problems early rather than treating them after they happen [1]. It allows for earlier intervention and more personalised care, and a better understanding of how lifestyle and environmental factors influence health.

Discover how the treatment of such a seemingly trivial condition as a peanut allergy developed and allowed people to live their lives more easily.

Though initially it may sound incredibly modern, robotic surgeries have been in use since 1985. The PUMA 560 ( a modified industrial robotic arm)  was used to perform neurological biopsies, where a small sample of brain tissue was removed - the robot served to hold a needle as part of the biopsy. The accuracy of the robot however was within 0.05mm. Though impressive for being the first robot of its kind, the level of accuracy clearly needed improvement as taking a brain sample 0.05mm from the correct location could clearly have fatal consequences.

Imagine this. At 3 am, a patient arrives in the emergency department with chest pain. A machine learning algorithm instantly analyses the ECG, compares it with thousands of previous cases, and produces a probability score for myocardial infarction. The patient’s fine it reassures you. But you, as the only physician on site, realise that whilst the ECG seems normal when compared with the millions of ECG’s the AI has been trained against, this ECG shows a slight ST depression rather than the usual ST elevation. It could be a posterior myocardial infarction. 

Though crude by modern standards, mediaeval European medicine - rooted in remedies and religious practice - laid the foundations for many of the approaches to diagnosis and patient care that continue to influence modern medicine to this day. 

The mother of all healing. The science of life. The oldest healing science.[1] All these statements allude to the same concept. A concept which to many is unknown, but to some is more significant than modern day medicine. This concept is known as Ayurveda. Originating more than 5000 years ago from India [1], Ayurveda literally means the ‘science of life’ in Sanskrit. But what does it do, you may ask?

Over 2 millennia ago, Ancient Greece was one the most prominent civilisations in the world. From influencing the architecture of famous buildings inventing the core elements of theatre which are still present today, its impact on modern-day life and work remains ubiquitous, and the sector of engineering is no stranger to such.