Winner
Melanie Smith
Biomedical Sciences MSc, 2005
Melanie is a biomedical scientist and scientific advisor in clinical and public health microbiology laboratory testing who contributed to COVID-19 testing policy, guidance, legislation and standards. She worked on diagnostic validation and national testing deployment in January 2020, then developed testing standards, manufacturing guidance, testing policy, guidance and legislation. She developed an in-silico assurance programme and NHS monitoring to assure performance for detection of new COVID-19 variants for in-use tests, and shared learning and outcomes internationally.
She led the design and roll out of reflex genotyping assays to detect known variants across every NHS pathology region. She then worked in COVID-19 genomics, leading technical assurance and quality improvement for COVID-19 sequencing in England. She was awarded Healthcare Scientist of the Year 2021 for contributions to quality standards and variant assurance by the Office of the Chief Scientific Officer, NHS England.
Finalists
Lucio Bagnulo
Translation and Interpreting MA, 2011
Lucio is Head of Translation and Language Strategy at Amnesty International. He won the Think Global Award for Language Industry Person of the Year. He was a panellist at the 2021 LocFromHome session 'Language for a Just World: How international NGOs use language to help others' and took part in The Global Podcast, talking about how language and localization forward Amnesty’s remarkable call for justice.
He joined the call for a UN resolution for the protection of translators and interpreters in armed conflict and post-conflict situations. He is a board member of the Language Industry Expert Group of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation, an advisory group that offers expertise in the field of translation and language. He helped create the Global Coalition for Language Rights, aimed at increased access to information, equal representation, and proactive responses to challenges.
Nikhil Inamdar
Journalism (International) - Broadcast MA, 2007
Nikhil is the BBC’s Business Correspondent, contributing to TV, online and radio outlets with programmes including BBC Breakfast, Outside Source, Asia Business Report, World Business Report, and Talking Business. He has led investigations on sexual harassment in the Indian music industry and on malpractices and predatory selling by the world’s biggest ed-tech firm Byju’s during COVID-19, which was referenced in the Indian parliament. Nikhil won a News Broadcasting Award in 2020 for his feature on caste discrimination in Silicon Valley.
Nikhil has published two business books, one of which has been a national bestseller with over 25,000 copies sold worldwide. Nikhil has also been a primetime business presenter with Indian news channel NDTV, where he interviewed heads of state, CEOs and policy shapers. As a reporter he has covered a range of landmark events in India and around the world.
Lubna Shuja
Law LLB, 1989
Lubna qualified as a solicitor in 1992, became a partner in a Bradford law firm in 1998 and in 2007 opened her own firm, Legal Swan Solicitors. Lubna has represented clients in cases involving litigation, family, wills, probate and personal injury work. Lubna sits as a Chair dealing with disciplinary cases for various professional regulators. She was a Deputy Clerk at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for 13 years. In 2012-13, she was Chair of the Solicitor Sole Practitioners Group representing over 7,000 solicitors.
On 12 October 2022, Lubna will become the first Asian, the first Muslim and the seventh female to become President of the Law Society of England and Wales, which represents over 200,000 solicitors. Lubna is currently Vice President having been elected as Deputy Vice President. She has been a member of the Law Society Board since 2018.