Winner
Dr Shameem Fawdar
Biotechnology in Medicine BSc, 2006 and PhD, 2010
After Westminster, Shameem worked at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute. She then held several positions in Research and Development in Mauritius during which she introduced and implemented novel research platforms in public research organisations. She also lectured on techniques in the fields of stem cell and cancer biology, novel therapeutic targets characterisation and bioinformatics data mining. She has co-authored several publications and is on the reviewer panel of several scientific journals.
Shameem has won the Best Young Mauritian Scientist Award (Government of Mauritius) and Best Mauritian Women Scientist Award (UNESCO-MERCK) in recognition of her work and contribution to science. Shameem is currently the Chief Scientific Officer of Axonova Pharma Ltd and the spin-off Indika Pharma Ltd. She contributed to the successful set up of both companies, raising grants of over MUR 28 million (over £500,000) for Research and Innovation.
Finalists
Professor Chris Bellamy
Russian BA, 1987
Chris became Defence Correspondent of the Independent in 1990 and reported from Russia extensively, including from Grozny in 1995. He was shortlisted for Foreign Reporter of the Year in the British Press Awards for a report from the Chechen mountains. In 1997 he became Director of the Security Studies Institute at Cranfield University.
In 2007 Chris published ‘Absolute War: Soviet Russia in the Second World War’, which won the Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature. Chris appears regularly on TV and radio commenting on Russian military and security matters, including the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the new Doctrine of 'non-linear war' or 'hybrid war'. In 2022, he has appeared on Sky News, BBC World, BBC News, BFBS and the Chinese Global Television Network (CGTN) to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Ian Ross
Photographic Arts BA, 1974
Ian started out as an assistant cameraman and then a film cameraman for a TV station. He would also freelance as a soundman so he could watch top directors of photography work. When he left the TV station, he started his own company with a friend who was quite a well-known film director. They mainly shot drama films for TV, but also got involved in feature films. Ian then took over the job of production manager and hired another cameraman.
By the time Ian was 30, he was an international film producer. He worked in Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as New York and LA for Universal Pictures. Then he got interested in making TV commercials, and for nearly 40 years he has run his own TV commercials production companies in London, South Africa, Greece and Dubai.
Amba Shirfield
Modern Languages BA, 1994
Amba led an Afro-Brazilian performing arts company helping young Londoners reach their full potential through expressive arts. She worked with youth charities to secure grants for new programmes to increase their reach to young people in need across London. Amba became Director of External Relations for Teach First, where she developed new partnerships to support their programmes.
Amba has led African charities to develop new funding streams, supporting 100,000 young children access education and healthcare programmes and winning the Vodafone World of Difference Award 2012. Amba established new scholarship endowments in Australia for young people who did not have the financial means to access higher education, raising $35m. Since 2016, she has led four schools across the UK and Qatar, setting up a new development office which hopes to raise £20m across scholarships and a capital campaign.