Peter Wildy Prize Winner 2022: Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope

Posted on May 19, 2022   by Microbiology Society

The Microbiology Society’s Peter Wildy Prize is awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to microbiology education or the communication of microbiology. This year’s recipient was Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope, lead Pharmacist, HCAI, Fungal, AMR, AMU & Sepsis Division of UK Health Security Agency who presented her Prize Lecture on ‘Tackling antimicrobial resistance: moving from raising awareness to professional engagement and public action’ at the Microbiology Society’s Annual Conference in April.  

Dr Ashiru-Oredope received the Peter Wildy Prize for her work as an advocate for antibiotic resistance awareness. She has led an extensive number of national and international projects around tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and since 2014 has led the Antibiotic Guardian campaign which asks members of the public, healthcare professionals, students and health leaders to pledge to become an ‘antibiotic guardian’ as well as promoting awareness and action through a range of education and engagement activities. The website has since gained international attention and, as of May 2022, has seen over 169,900 pledges made across 180 countries worldwide. 

In her lecture, Dr Ashiru-Oredope discussed the moment she knew she was in the right specialty as a pharmacist after watching a documentary: “It became more than a day job for me. A cause, a mission, a vision, or whatever else we’d call it… Watching the documentary about that girl, and being a mum myself, made me realise that anyone can develop a resistant infection… And [so I] started to think what can I do to make a difference? How do I start to communicate this information in a more significant way than I had done previously, focusing on members of the public, focusing on my family members and other people around me? So, at that point, I guess I was convinced that I was in the right specialty.”

Closing the seminar, Dr Ashiru-Oredope invited the audience to choose a pledge and become an antibiotic guardian. 

An interview where Dr Ashiru-Oredope further discusses the importance of science communication and the role healthcare professionals and the public can play in tackling AMR is available to watch online. 

Dr Ashiru-Oredope’s Peter Wildy Prize Lecture is available to watch on our YouTube channel.

 

Image: Archyra Photography