PRISM Exeter poster unveiling at RILD helps shines spotlight on LGBTQ+ scientists
12 Jul 2024
A new poster celebrating the work of Chloe Orkin, an esteemed clinician and researcher at the Royal London Hospital and Queen Mary University of London, specialising in HIV/AIDS, has been unveiled in the Exeter Health Library in the RILD.
The poster is based on the winning entry of PRISM Exeter’s Queer Science Competition 2024, which asked secondary school, college, and university students across the South West to discover lesser-known LGBTQIA+ scientists, technologists, engineers, mathematicians and medics and celebrate them.
The competition was won by 17-year-old Beth from Cornwall, and as the theme for this year’s LGBT+ History Month was “Medicine - #UnderTheScope”, PRISM Exeter teamed up with the Royal Devon to have the winning entry turned into a poster and displayed in the Exeter Health Library as a way to inspire others.
At the poster unveiling, Chris Tidman, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Devon, read out a few words to Beth from Chloe Orkin, who said, “I am hugely honoured and touched that you have focused your project on my life. I believe representation is so important. It isn’t always easy to do, so when I see that it has made a difference to you it means a great deal to me. Always remember to play it forward and to lift as you climb! I wish you every success.”
After the poster was unveiled, Beth was able to start a short work experience placement in the Trust’s pathology department, as she plans to study biomedical sciences at university.
