Celebrating Excellence: Advancing Healthcare Awards 2024

The IBMS is proud to sponsor the Biomedical Scientist of the Year at the prestigious Advancing Healthcare Awards. Held on Friday, April 26th, at the Park Plaza Victoria in London, the ceremony celebrated outstanding contributions and innovations in healthcare.

This year, we are thrilled to celebrate Leonie Wheeldon, Consultant Biomedical Scientist at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, who has been honoured as the Biomedical Scientist of the Year 2024. Leonie’s remarkable achievements include becoming one of the few to attain the IBMS Advanced Specialist Diploma in Diagnostic Cytopathology. She has dedicated herself to the training of healthcare professionals in various specialties, enhancing skills locally and nationally, particularly in Rapid Onsite Evaluation (ROSE). This crucial technique improves the precision of Fine Needle Aspiration, significantly benefiting patient care by reducing the need for repeat procedures.

Leonie also actively contributes to the IBMS Specialist Advisory Panel and leads the Media Group for the British Association for Cytopathology. Her efforts to expand education on ROSE through new qualifications and her role in promoting the practice at national forums highlight her commitment to advancing biomedical science.

Leonie commented:

"Thank you so much for this prestigious award. I am truly grateful. This recognition is testament to the dedicated laboratory teams, clinical teams, national and international teams that I have had the privilege to work with. This would not be possible without each and every one of them.

Diagnostic Cytopathology is fundamental in the delivery of highly effective cancer pathways. Medical advances utilising smaller sampling methods puts Cytology services at the forefront of modern healthcare and integration with medical services puts our personnel in the heart of the clinical interface.

I’m excited to see the developments of cytology services with widespread excellence becoming a standard of care. Making these meaningful contributions in our field truly results in positive impacts to pathology services and most importantly patient care."

Additionally, we congratulate Yushu Wu, recipient of the Rising Star Award. Yushu, an Associate Practitioner at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, has shown exemplary dedication to advancing her career in biomedical science.

Originally trained in paediatric nursing in China, Yushu is now completing her apprenticeship in a second language after a significant break in her studies. Her perseverance and commitment to her new role exemplify the spirit of innovation and progress that the Advancing Healthcare Awards aim to recognise.

Yushu commented:

Having an opportunity to enrol in the Apprenticeship Scheme is already a high recognition of my work. Being nominated and awarded as a Rising Star is really beyond anything I could expect. It is a great encouragement and a huge inspiration not just to me, but to many of my colleagues who also work and study really hard in the field! Since I got the award, many of my peers across my workplace have already expressed their interest in similar schemes. It has opened up a whole new career path for us, which is so exciting!

The Advancing Healthcare Awards continues to foster partnership working and crosses professional boundaries, celebrating those who support and enhance health services alongside Allied health professionals and healthcare scientists.

Congratulations to all the 2024 winners and finalists for their remarkable achievements and contributions to healthcare.