RSC IUPAC Global women's breakfast 2025 (GWB 2025)

Dr. David Izuogu is a distinguished chemist, entrepreneur, and advocate for educational and scientific empowerment in Africa. With a PhD in Computational Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, where his groundbreaking research advanced the field of singlemolecule magnets, David combines academic excellence with impactful social innovation. 

As the founder of the Africa of Our Dream Education Initiative (AODI), David has led efforts to transform education and research across the continent. AODI’s initiatives include organising scientific conferences and workshops, sourcing and donating research equipment to schools, fostering research partnerships, and empowering youth and women through capacity building, entrepreneurship, and training. It also provides mentorship programs that connect African students with scholars from prestigious institutions, fostering academic excellence and leadership. These efforts have created pathways for African students and researchers to thrive globally.

David’s leadership extends to his work as a McKinsey consultant, where he spearheaded transformative projects in strategy, operations, business development and innovation across multiple industries, including in fintech, health, education, energy, e-commerce, and supply chain. He is the founder of My Health Integral (MHI), an AI-powered integrated digital health platform revolutionising healthcare in Africa and ensuring affordable, accessible and holistic patient-centric care and wellness. His commitment to inclusion and diversity in STEM has earned him global recognition and established him as a leading voice in building equitable systems in science and education.

Professor Jennifer Leigh works in Creative Practices for Social Justice in the School of Sociology Science at the University of Kent. She is a chemist turned sociologist, with a particular interest in using embodied, reflective, and creative practices for social justice. Her current work includes addressing and highlighting experiences of marginalisation in science due to intersectional factors including disability, gender, race, and caring responsibilities. Recognised in The Shaw Trust Disability Power 100, she founded and leads Kent’s Summer Vacation Research Competition for postdoctoral researchers and widening participation students, is a Co-Lead of NADSN’s STEMM Action Group, Vice Chair (Research) of the International Women in Supramolecular Chemistry Network, sits on the Wellcome Trust’s Inclusive Research Design and Practice Expert Advisory Group, and Vitae’s Policy Advisory Group and is the Athena Forum Disability Champion.

I am an undergraduate Chemistry student at the University of Oxford and a founding member of the PERIODically podcast team. Our group of seven chemists created this podcast to explore how menstruation and reproductive health affect education, particularly in Chemistry. In series 1, we shared the personal challenges we've faced as students who menstruate in situations such as labs, tutorials, and exams. My role was to plan and host our episode on the contraceptive pill and share my own experiences in our episode discussing tutorials. By addressing these taboo topics openly, we hope to break down period stigma, validate others' experiences and offer practical solutions to help universities support their students.

After an amazing response to series 1, we created a second series and expanded to feature our wonderful guests - lecturers, PhD students and postdoctoral researchers - who shared the challenges of balancing experiences such as perimenopause, endometriosis and pregnancy with an academic career. With over 4000 downloads in 50 countries, the podcast has resonated with a large audience and sparked essential conversations across academia and the chemistry community. We've been featured in Chemical & Engineering News and honoured with awards such as Bright Network's Women Who Inspire and the Oxford MPLS Equality and Inclusion Best Initiative 2024.