Women at the forefront of medical research

Professor Anne Rosser was interviewed by the BBC World Service in a programme on women making medical breakthroughs in drug discovery.

Professor Rosser was speaking alongside Paridhi Sukheja, lead biologist for Tuberculosis drug discovery at Calibr-Skaggs Institute at Scripps Research in the US.

Drug discovery is characterised by failures but for Professor Anne Rosser, the motivation to deal with perpetual setbacks comes from seeing the people and families who are affected by Huntington’s. It is also about appreciating the progress over time, from learning about Huntington’s, to developing clinical trials, to learning to work together globally.
In relation to the recent successful treatment of the Huntington’s gene therapy trial gene therapy AMT-130, Professor Anne Rosser discussed the importance of sensitivity in announcing a scientific breakthrough to the public, and the huge patient community affected by it.

‘It is important to get the message right,’ she explained. There is a delicate balance between being cautious, as these are still early results from small studies, and being hopeful and celebratory at the clear positive results and the potential life-changing impact this treatment could have.

In the discussion, Professor Rosser spoke about how she first came to neurology through a medical degree and entered a medical world in which there were very few female neurologists. She said, ‘It affects your confidence, and you feel you have to earn your place in the room more.’
Things are changing, both women explained, but inequality is still present and as Paridhi Sukheja put it,

‘If you are a woman in science, just being a good scientist isn’t enough, you still have to constantly and quietly prove that you belong.’

Listen to the full programme on BBC Sounds

Read more about Professor Rosser’s work with the Huntington’s Disease Centre, Advanced Neurotherapeutics centre (ANTC) and the Brain Repair Group – all at Cardiff University.