11 Feb 2026
International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2026
The Noble Group celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11th February. Our laboratory values the contribution of our postdoctoral researchers and PhD students to science and society. We are committed to demonstrating best practice in equality and diversity within our group. According to UNESCO’s call to action to close the gender gap in science, women represent only one third of the global scientific community.
We are committed to creating an environment in which all staff and students feel supported in sharing their ideas, where we actively listen to and engage with diverse perspectives.
Women make up 60% of our group, led by Prof. Alison Noble, an inspirational role model, whose contributions to science continue to support and inspire young women researchers and girls with an interest in science and engineering.
We asked our women researchers and PhD students a series of questions and we hope their insightful feedback will encourage more young girls to pursue studies in engineering and careers in science.
Emily Peacock, one of our PhD students, was asked - What inspired you to study biomedical engineering?
I was inspired by how quickly artificial intelligence and machine learning are advancing, and I wanted to apply them to help support women's health and pregnancy. Being able to focus my master’s and PhD on this, felt really special, as the work directly connects technology with helping women, girls, and mums.
This image is of Emily presenting at The ISUOG World Congress 2025, Cancun, Mexico.
Dr. Yingyu Yang also said “I’ve loved biology since middle school, and I’ve always wanted to build things that genuinely help people. Biomedical engineering felt like the perfect bridge between understanding life and designing real-world healthcare solutions.”
Dr. Hala Lamdouar is a post-doctoral researcher and offered her thoughts on what attracts her to the field of science study “A fundamental curiosity to understand the world, combined with the opportunity to work on problems that can, even in small ways, improve our quality of life “Anjie Le, a PhD student shared her thoughts on studying science: “Science allows me to formalise real-world problems into precise questions and test them rigorously. I value the combination of theoretical depth and tangible impact, especially in clinical settings.”
Dr. Can Peng explained “What I enjoy most is exploring new ideas, testing them carefully, and learning from the results. Science offers a structured way to pursue curiosity: you ask questions, form hypotheses, run experiments, and refine your understanding based on evidence. I also find the pace of discovery very motivating. There is always something new to learn, and that steady progress keeps me keen to continue exploring.”
Often a role model in our lives has encouraged us to succeed and pursue our dreams; therefore, we asked Furat Aljishi, a PhD student “Do you have a role model who encouraged you to pursue science?”
“My mum studied mathematics and computer engineering. When I was young, she used to open the PC and ask me to help her clean it internally. I was fascinated about difficult parts and how they form a working PC. Ever since I was in love with computers and I wanted to study it.”
Emma Sun who is a PhD student says, “My interest in science is inspired by my mum, who is a scientist and an academic herself, and has taught me to be curious, and diligent in the pursuit of understanding the world around me.”
Prof. Alison Noble is a role model for all of us in the lab, not just researchers and students. As part of the administrative and group support team, we feel lucky to be led and encouraged by such an inspirational and successful woman, whose leadership makes our day-to-day work meaningful and fulfilling.
Our final question was “What are your career aspirations in science? Here our PhD student Jiayuan Zhu sahred her thoughts;
“I aim to develop human-centred, interpretable AI systems that translate fast-moving technological advances into real clinical impact, particularly for underrepresented communities. Through this work, I hope to contribute to more equitable healthcare and support the next generation of researchers from diverse backgrounds.”
We would also like to highlight other members of the group who have been role models and a source of inspiration through their contributions to conferences, talks, and scientific events over the past year. Our PhD students, Angela Wang and Eloise Ockenden who are also valuable group members, contributing through their publications and research work.
Dr. Yosra Mekki was a speaker on the panel, invited to contribute a perspective on building ethical AI systems for athletes, drawing on my experience as a physician undertaking an engineering PhD at the Olympic Movement AI Engagement Forum in Lausanne in November 2025.
Dr. Yingyu Yang was awarded the Best Oral Presentation Award for her outstanding research presentation titled, “Latent Motion Profiling for Annotation-free Cardiac Phase Detection in Adult and Fetal Echocardiography Videos”
Her presentation was one of the oral presentations delivered at The Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention Society (MICCAI) 2025, 28th International Conference, held in Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Together, these experiences and voices reflect the strength, diversity, and collaborative spirit of the Noble Group. By celebrating the achievements of the women in our lab and sharing their journeys, we hope to inspire young girls and women to pursue their interests in science and engineering and to feel confident that they belong in these fields. We remain committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where everyone can thrive.
