International day of women and girls in science

Rachel Boyer-Blanchard – from a start in science to a career at UKAS

As we approach International Day of Women and Girls in Science, UKAS speaks to one of our longest-standing employees about her career in science, and with UKAS.

Rachel Boyer-Blanchard currently works within the UKAS Training Academy as our Instructional Design Specialist. In this capacity, Rachel is responsible for designing and developing much of our training programme, including our comprehensive eLearning programme.

In addition to the great work Rachel has done within the Training team, her career at UKAS goes back much further than this. Rachel initially joined what was then the CPA (Clinical Pathology Accreditation) as an Assessment Manager. During her time at CPA, Rachel progressed to being Deputy Executive Manager and also worked on standard development and training including adoption of the first versions of ISO 15189 into CPA standards and ISO 17043 and developing a training program for our Technical Assessors. The CPA became part of UKAS in 2009 and Rachel continued her career with UKAS.

What inspired you to pursue a career in science, and were there any female role models who influenced your decision?

As a youngster, I was and still am a “questioner”. I had an amazing female primary school teacher, Mrs Hopkinson, who encouraged this characteristic and when I was only 5-6 years old introduced me to Marie Curie and Katherine Johnson.  Having those role models in books and at my fingertips showed me that it was possible for a woman to become anything she wanted.    Later in life, when I began working at the Northern General, a Scientist named Chris was my mentor.  She was phenomenal and ensured that I loved the work I did.  When I moved on to work in accreditation, the then Executive Manager of CPA, Cheryl Blair was an inspiration. Cheryl was a chemist who advocated for assurance of a quality diagnostic service for patients to the extent that she left the bench to work on the initial project that set the groundwork for the development of ISO 15189.  The role I entered into within CPA was very different to my initial scientific benchwork but required me to utilise my knowledge of Biomedical Science to look at how we assessed based on a set of professionally developed standards (to start with)

How has your work contributed to the advancement of science, particularly in your area of expertise?

The research work I participated in contributed to the eventual development of the HPV vaccine for young women.  It was a tiny part of a huge piece of work that ultimately means young women today are significantly less likely to develop cervical cancer.

In terms of accreditation, the continual improvement in the quality of diagnostic services through the assessment of medical laboratories is something I will always be proud to have been involved in. Now being part of the Commercial Training team, the ability to develop learning material to support our next generation of customers is something that makes me happy to get up and get started each day.

International Women and Girls in Science Day – why is it important to recognise and celebrate women’s contributions to science?

I was fortunate to have close-to-home role models and promoters, parents for whom gender was not a discriminator or director in terms of career.  This is not the case for all women.  There continues to be a significant gender gap across STEM disciplines and this awareness day is an opportunity to promote full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls and to encourage gender equality.

The STEM world continues to evolve and new developments areas like AI need a balanced approach.  Currently only 1 in 5 professionals in AI are women.  Whilst gender gaps continue, there remains, in all STEM fields an imbalance in perspective.  I am fortunate to work in an environment that has a high proportion of women with a STEM background and the energy and inspiration that provides is something for which I am truly grateful.