Vote for your next Committee!
Below we’ve listed the current applicants for the 2024/25 INSPIRE committee. Please read through the manifestos and vote for who you believe can make the most change!
To vote, please head to https://forms.office.com/e/283VBshJs3 and vote before 30th June. Make sure you are an INSPIRE member first (https://su.nottingham.ac.uk/activities/view/inspire) and to vote for every position possible!
President:
· Aashlesha Galla
Hi everyone! My name is Aashlesha and I am applying for President on this year's committee for INSPIRE Nottingham.
My current and past experiences on societies, including SCRUBS President, MedSoc President and the ACPGBI medical student steering committee, have helped develop and enhance my skillset making me suitable for this role. My past experience as MedSoc President, as well as my current role as SCRUBS president, involves working in a similar leadership capability, thus I appreciate the importance of motivation and teamwork within a committee, and understand the responsibilities involved in a SU society. Furthermore, my current role on SCRUBS has involved collaboration and communication with the SU and the medical school to help us organise and hold various events, and as a result, I would be able to use my past experience of the processes involved to help INSPIRE hold its various events and start new initiatives. Additionally, working as a part of ACPGBI’s medical student steering committee has given me the opportunity to work with students and faculty in various trusts across the country and help plan a range of events and understanding the practicalities behind planning such events. These transferable skills would enable me to contribute to INSPIRE Nottingham by connecting us with various colleagues in academic medicine to collaborate and create more research opportunities and more talks surrounding academic medicine for our members. Furthermore, my roles on other societies would help foster collaboration, thus helping us increase awareness and engagement amongst medical students across all years.
Being INSPIRE general secretary this year has given me the opportunity to work with multiple committee members and gain a good insight into how INSPIRE works, the various events we hold, and our society's aims and goals. As President, I aim to build on and continue the wonderful work done by this year’s committee by creating numerous events and opportunities that help students explore academic medicine and understand how research can play a role in their career. This would include: increasing our academic medicine contacts regionally and nationally, holding more events such as Dragon’s Den and Art for Research, further expanding INSRIP by possibly collaborating with other societies such as SCRUBS’ surgical research network, and supporting the conference subcommittee for this year's East Midlands Student Research Conference.
I hope my enthusiasm and motivation towards the role, as well as my leadership and team centered experiences, make it evident that I have the skillset and experience that would make me an ideal candidate for President. Thank you!
Vice President
Hi I'm Harini and I'm a second year! Having been a part of the INSPIRE committee last year, I would love to continue helping to make research more accessible to medical students, particularly those win preclinical years. I would also really enjoy helping to organise and host next year's INSPIRE Conference, as well as continuing to develop and create new opportunities for interdisciplinary events through the society. Thank you!
Treasurer and Sponsorship:
· Leja Voroblevaite
Hello- my name is Leja and I'm hoping to be the treasurer next year! Research is something that I've always had an interest in and I would love to have the opportunity of being in a position that allows me to help other students explore their academic interests. I have experience of being on different university society committees, namely Travel soc and Nightline. Within the travel society, finances were something that we frequently discussed and managed in meetings, so I aim to bring that knowledge with me to appropriately manage the society's finances next year. Thank you for your consideration!
INSRIP Co-ordinators (x2):
· Mudita Jain
Hello! I’m Mudita Jain and I’m in first year. I’m interested in joining as an INSRIP Coordinator because I think it is an amazing opportunity to get a picture of the research that is happening at the undergraduate medical student level at our university. I also believe this will enable me to connect with and have conversations with students interested in research. In terms of career building, this opportunity will allow me to demonstrate responsibility by helping facilitate important events such as inviting university academics. I am currently on the committee for the EcoHealthcare Society (treasurer), so have some experience regarding being part of a committee. As a side note, I am currently a member of the OPAD society and so I might be able to help in inviting university academics in the field of medical technology for those that are interested.
Lecture Series Co-ordinators (x2):
· Thomas McConnell
I am currently working on a scoping review, a systematic review, and a meta-analysis. I would like to assist other students in learning how to find research supervisors and strengthen their research protocols. I have a strong passion for recent literature and would like to share my enthusiasm with others. I hope to continue working with Inspire throughout my medical degree and eventually create valuable resources for everyone.
· Tish Singham
INSPIRE represents the joint venture of two fields, medicine & research, as a vastly complex & symbiotic composite – this is something I have strived for throughout my academic and professional career thus far and it is something I hope to continue to continue expanding upon if elected to the INSPIRE committee. As a GEM, I have had various opportunities within student/graduate medical and scientific research. Following my summer research experiences at the Cornell University (general scientific research program) and the University of Cambridge (Medicine with clinical research program), I commenced my undergraduate degree at Stetson University in Fl, USA. During my time, I assisted on behavioural neuroscience research being conducted by a professor at the university. As part of my master’s thesis work, I worked as a neurosurgical research assistant for a clinician at Barts and The London. In contributing towards this clinical research (which has now been published) I helped gather data from patients, collate, and implement it all into an AI machine learning algorithm. During my time in this position, I was exposed to a great balance between surgical/scientific research and clinical practice – something I believe is the end goal of medical students who are interested in clinical research. It is my hope that my previous experiences in research and other collaborative leadership roles across a diverse range of societies will help me in undertaking the role of either one of the INSPRIP coordinators or one of the lecture series coordinators. Furthermore, I believe my existing diverse network of clinicians and researchers will help me contribute to the continued development of INSPIRE and its members/attendees. My hope is to identify and gather as many opportunities as I can in the form of project proposals or lecture seminars for all medical students (INSPIRE members and university medical students) interested in the Medical Sciences. Especially, projects and lectures providing opportunities to discuss topics at the forefront of medicine, for example AI, machine learning, & artificially created organs/organ features. Essentially, I think as aspiring medical professionals, it is important that we, as a community, do as much as we can to stay educated and aware of current advancements in medical research, not just for our own academic benefit but for the benefit of our future patients. My ultimate goal, if elected, to the position of either an INSPRIP or lecture series coordinator would be to provide access and opportunities to culminate this understanding for all hopeful medical professionals and curious scientific investigators – thus encouraging widened participation and diversity in academic backgrounds of members and attendees at future INSPIRE events. Thank you for your consideration!
Early Years Publicity Rep:
· Fadekemi Akinbami
BMedSci Rep:
· Kirthana Balachandran
One of my many interests in medicine is also medical research, which I explored through an internship with UCL Medical School last summer. I was able to learn about systematic reviews and helped complete one regarding post natal depression. I would love to be part of INSPIRE’s committee, and widen my interests in medical research and volunteering.
· Maximilian O’Brien
Hi there,
I am applying to be the BMedSci rep for this committee as I am very passionate about the role that academic research has in enhancing medicine and healthcare.
Thanks,
Max
Clinical years publicity representative
I am really passionate about research and have been on committee for two years now.
As a candidate for the Clinical Years Representative position, I am eager to leverage my extensive experience in communication, leadership, and community engagement to enhance the academic and social experience of our cohort. My background in various roles, combined with my passion for healthcare, positions me uniquely to serve and inspire our community.
Effective communication is the cornerstone of a successful community. Handling emails for fortnightly INSPIRE updates is not just a task but an opportunity to keep our cohort informed, inspired, and united. My experience includes:
* Make A Smile Charity Committee: Where I coordinated with many corporate groups, children and professionals demonstrating my ability to communicate to organise charity events.
* Heartstart Volunteer: Working with children to teach them CPR, which honed my skills in delivering clear and engaging information.
* Dermatology Society External Affairs Officer: Managing communications with external stakeholders, showcasing my capability in handling intricate and high-stakes communication.
* Vice President of a Dance Society: Promoting and managing activities to run an entire society.
I can commit to:
* Timeliness and Clarity: Ensuring all emails are sent on schedule and convey information clearly and concisely.
* Engagement and Responsiveness: Encouraging feedback and questions, and providing prompt responses to ensure everyone feels heard and valued.
* Content Quality: Curating content that is not only informative but also motivational, highlighting achievements, opportunities, and upcoming events.
Promoting INSPIRE campaigns and events is essential for maximum participation and impact. Through strategic use of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, I aim to:
* Create Buzz: Develop visually appealing and informative posts to generate excitement and anticipation for events such as the Lecture Series, Conference, and INSPIRE Projects.
* Utilize Multi-Channel Approaches: Ensure our messages reach all students by diversifying the platforms and methods used, including stories, posts, reels, and targeted ads.
* Leverage Networks: Utilize my extensive network from my roles in various societies to amplify our reach and ensure broad engagement.
* Highlight Impact: Share success stories and testimonials to showcase the value and benefits of participating in INSPIRE events.
Having attended the INSPIRE conference twice, I found it incredibly enriching and informative. This firsthand experience fuels my enthusiasm and commitment to bringing similar value to our cohort. Additionally, I have written two pieces of published research, which I am eager to showcase at future conferences, demonstrating my dedication to academic excellence and knowledge sharing.
Research pitch competition coordinator x 2
My first experience in research was with a professor who I pestered with countless emails, before he finally gave me a chance to be part of a research team. I was obviously responsible for doing a lot of groundwork and data accumulation rather than writing or having any lead responsibilities. However, I found myself deeply interested in connecting the dots between information I had dug up from reference papers and found an unexpected curiosity for research work in my last year of school. I would like to continue the same in university. I haven't been a member of the INSPIRE society as until today I did not know it existed, but I would be glad to be involved in research throughout my medical school career
Diversity representative
As Diversity Rep, I will be dedicated to ensuring that our events and activities reflect the rich diversity of the medical student population. My analytical skills will ensure I safely collect EDI data for the benefit of future grant applications and more. I am committed to ensuring that our events are representative of our diverse community, providing a platform for voices that are often underrepresented. As Diversity Rep, I will make sure that no-one is discriminated against and that everyone will get a chance to show their talent.
Alumni Representative
I'd like to apply for alumni rep role and for publicity rep, I've recently completed my bmedsci and presented at a conference, and I have found that it deepened my enthusiasm for research and inspired my interest in joining the INSPIRE committee. I have experience of being vice president for the islamic society in 2nd year and for IMAN medical society this year as well as publicity rep for WAMS, allowing me to develop many skills such as creativity, organisation, leadership and teamwork which are all essential skills to be a part of a committee .I've had experience in organising large scale events such as mock osces and a mock MMI for students applying to medicine, arranging talks on various topics by doctors in person and online and arranging teaching sessions on topics like the Bmedsci, anatomy and exam revision and creating handouts for pre clinical years with very positive feedback. I'm very experienced with organising events and delegating tasks, liaising with SU and leading a team and working with others to achieve goals alongside studying medicine, and find it really enjoyable and am very motivated. Having started establishing an alumni basis this year slowly for IMAN, I understand the importance of establishing and maintaining connections and the support they provide. My experience includes designing posters and reels for social media, providing advisory support, and creating content that effectively promotes our initiatives and events .I'd love to be able to contribute any way I can and am committed to bringing my skills and energy to further the goals of INSPIRE.
Note: there are still lots of positions available! Please do send us an email (inspire@uonsu.com) should you be interested in any of the other roles available;