Executive insights and the latest information on women’s health issues with Dame Lesley Regan
Imperial College London is a global Top 10 University that has deep expertise in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths, Medicine and Business. As part of the institution’s aim to include more women executives in the institution’s senior governing bodies, the Imperial College Council (ICC) has started a Women’s Network. The primary aim of the project is to bring female executives together to share expertise on topics of mutual interest, whilst also aiming to create different pathways to a leadership role within the university’s governance structure by making it easier for women to engage across the institution.
This is the inaugural event of the ICC’s Women’s Network and we are very pleased to be able to host Dame Lesley Regan for a talk on some of the women’s health issues most relevant to other senior executives. Dame Lesley is a Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Imperial College London and Consultant Gynaecologist at St Mary’s Hospital London, where she continues her clinical practice in Reproductive Medicine. She is also the Honorary Secretary of FIGO, a Non Executive Director of NHS Resolution and Chair of the Charity Wellbeing of Women.
The event will begin with a presentation by Dame Lesley where she will share some of the latest information relating to her expertise in reproductive medicine and her role as the first Women's Health Ambassador. Dr Mahnaz Safa, Imperial College Council, will host the event and the Business School’s Professor Marisa Miraldo will also be attending to bring an additional perspective on international healthcare, with a specific focus on women’s health. There will be time for informal knowledge sharing via questions to the speakers.
Professor Miraldo is the Academic Director of the School’s Master of Science (MSc) in International Health Management and is a member of the university’s Global Development Hub – an Imperial College initiative that serves as a convening platform to deliver global impact on sustainable development, and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals more generally.
This is a morning event, with breakfast provided. The event will be hosted at Imperial College London’s South Kensington Campus. Parking can be provided with advanced notice.
Agenda
08.15 Arrival and breakfast
08.30 Talk and Q&A with Dame Lesley and Professor Miraldo
09.30 Pathways to Senior Governance with Grainne Brankin
Professor Dame Lesley Regan
Lesley Regan was the 30th President of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG:2016-2019). During her tenure she co-chaired the National Women’s Health Task Force with Jackie Doyle-Price MP (then Health Minister) and led the “Better for Women” report published in December 2019, which shone a spotlight on taboo subjects such as poor access to contraception, miscarriage, abortion, period problems, menopause and violence against women. The key recommendation of this hard-hitting report was the urgent need for an NHS-led Women’s Health Strategy and the importance of adopting a life-course approach to women’s health.
In 2020, Lesley was awarded a DBE for her services to women’s health in the late Queen’s New Year’s Honours List. In June 2022, she was appointed Women's Health Ambassador for England to help implementation of the DHSC's Women's Health Strategy.
Professor Marisa Miraldo
Professor Miraldo is a Professor in Health Economics and joined the Imperial College Business School in 2008. Marisa is a leading advocate of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), has chaired the EDI Committee at the Business School, founded the Gender Equity Committee at the ICBS and has been awarded a Julia Higgins Award for her contribution to EDI.
Professor Miraldo is Co-Lead of the ICL Women’s Health Initiative and is part of several strategic initiatives including the Centre for Translational Nutrition and Food Research and the Jameel Institute – Kenneth C Griffin Initiative for the Economics of Pandemic Preparedness at Imperial College London. She has developed and led the executive education Advanced Management Programme in Health Innovation. In the past she has held academic appointments at the Centre for Health Economics and the Department of Economics and Related Studies both at the University of York where she obtained her PhD.
Dr Mahnaz Safa
Dr Mahnaz Safa is a graduate of Imperial College London, with a PhD in Engineering. Mahnaz is Head of Markets, Europe and America, at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. From 2013 to 2016, she was a managing director of Citi EMEA Banking. Prior to that she was at UBS, where she headed the EMEA Debt Capital Markets business. Mahnaz has previously served on the British Business Bank’s investment committee and has advised new platforms for working capital finance and is an investor in start-ups in the FinTech space. She has co-chaired UBS and Citi’s women’s leadership executive committees, and promotes STEM initiatives in education. She is also a patron of the Academy of Ancient Music.