For anyone interested in Returners to SET careers - just to show that it can be done....

FROM PART-TIME TO PROFESSOR…
 – past Daphne Jackson Fellow awarded a Personal Chair in Nutritional Medicine

Professor Margaret Rayman is an inspiration for women who have taken time out of their career to, say, have a family, care for a relative or relocate with a partner, and who would like to return to that fulfilling career.  Many may think it is not possible, but Margaret has proved that not only is it possible to return to a career that you love, but also to reach the top of that career.  Margaret Rayman was recently awarded a Personal Chair in Nutritional Medicine in the School of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at the University of Surrey, where she has worked for the last twelve years.

Margaret’s career path has not followed the traditional route for a research scientist, as she had a rather lengthy career break to bring up her two children and only returned to research in the mid 1990s when her children were teenagers.  Margaret was lucky enough to find the Daphne Jackson Trust, which is based at the University of Surrey, where she started a two-year part time Fellowship in 1994 which offered her the chance to undertake a research project whilst retraining in the key skills required to re-establish herself as a research scientist.

Now, 13 years after finishing her Fellowship, Margaret has reached the top of her profession and is a world renowned researcher on selenium in the diet, as well as being a Trustee of the Daphne Jackson Trust.  “I am delighted that I am now a Professor of Nutritional Medicine and I hope that I have demonstrated that it is possible for women, even after a long break, to return to their careers and be successful.  I hope it will encourage others to have the drive and determination to do what I did, and get back into the workplace”, she says.  “The Daphne Jackson Trust gave me that all important first step back on to the ladder of success and I would wholeheartedly recommend a Fellowship to anyone who is thinking of returning to a scientific career”.

Since returning to the University of Surrey Margaret has made an outstanding contribution to the School of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences; she has created and developed the hugely successful and unique Nutritional Medicine postgraduate programme for Doctors and other practicing Clinicians.  She has always been extremely highly rated as a lecturer, she manages a high departmental administrative workload and is recognised as a world class researcher with original research papers in prestigious journals and numerous invitations to speak at international conferences and meetings.

Margaret has also spoken extensively in the media about her work on selenium in relation to health and nutrition and is active in helping to raise the profile of the University and her research.
Some of her most recent work involves trials of the effects of selenium on thyroid function, the effects of genetic differences between individuals in the way they handle selenium which may be linked to their risk of cancer, the effects of selenium in men with localized prostate cancer and a trial of selenium in HIV-postive volunteers in South Africa.  In addition, Margaret has been working with Hughes Foods in Northern Ireland to produce selenium enriched mushrooms to try and help combat the marginal selenium deficiency that exists in the UK and Europe.

For further information, photographs or an interview with Professor Margaret Rayman, or for information about Daphne Jackson Fellowships please contact:
Katie Perry, Press and Public Relations Manager for the Daphne Jackson Trust,
tel. 01227 371186 or 0771 700 5239 (mobile). Email: [log in to unmask]
or contact Professor Margaret Rayman directly on 01483 686447 or [log in to unmask]

Ends
Notes for Editors

1.      The Daphne Jackson Trust is a charity based in the Physics Department at the University of Surrey.   The Trust enables highly qualified and talented women and men to return to their careers in science, engineering and technology after a break.  The Trust’s proven formula normally provides two year half-time Fellowships.

2.      The Daphne Jackson trust has retained and grown an impressive list of sponsors, supporters and host Institutions for Fellows to whom it is very grateful.  Details and benefits of sponsorship, and a full list of sponsors and host Institutions are available on the website http://www.DaphneJackson.org



Dr Katie Perry
Press and Public Relations Manager
The Daphne Jackson Trust
Tel/fax 01227 371186
Mobile 0771 700 5239