British coronavirus vaccine developer Sarah Gilbert has many science accolades to her credit score, however now shares an honor with Beyoncé, Marilyn Monroe and Eleanor Roosevelt: a Barbie doll in her likeness.
Gilbert, a 59-year-old professor on the University of Oxford and co-developer of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, is certainly one of six ladies within the COVID-19 battle who has new Barbies.
Toy maker Mattel Inc. is recognizing them with a line of Barbie “role model” dolls.
Gilbert’s Barbie shares her lengthy blonde hair and massive darkish glasses, and she or he wears an understated navy blue pantsuit and white shirt.
“It’s a really weird concept to have a Barbie doll made in my likeness,” Gilbert mentioned in an interview for Mattel.
“I hope this will be part of making it more common for girls to think about careers in science.”
Honorees embody emergency room nurse Amy O’Sullivan, who handled the primary COVID-19 affected person at Wyckoff Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, and frontline physician Audrey Cruz in Las Vegas, who, in line with Mattel Combat discrimination.
A view of a Barbie doll dressed within the picture of British professor Sarah Gilbert in honor of the co-creator of the Oxford vaccine. (Andy Paradise / Mattel through AP)
The firm mentioned different dolls embody Chica Stacey Oriuva, a Canadian psychiatric resident on the University of Toronto who has battled systemic racism in healthcare, and Jacqueline Goes de Jesus, a Brazilian biomedical researcher who examined optimistic for a COVID-19 variant in Brazil. Leading the sequencing of the genome, the corporate mentioned. .
A doll on the finish honors Australian physician Kirby White, who pioneered a surgical robe that may very well be washed and reused by frontline employees in the course of the pandemic.
Gilbert selected the non-profit group WISE (Women in Science and Engineering), which is devoted to inspiring women to pursue careers in STEM, to obtain a monetary donation from the toy maker.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
