IMU alumna, Vilashini Saravanan, is set to embark on an exciting new educational journey. Graduating from our pharmacy programme in 2021 with a first-class honours, Vila has achieved remarkable success. Recently selected for the prestigious British Council Women in STEM Scholarship in collaboration with the University of Bristol, she will be pursuing her MSc in Digital Health in the UK starting this September.
Vila’s decision to transition from healthcare to STEM stems from her profound understanding of healthcare as a perpetual lifeline. Recognizing the transformative potential of AI and digitalisation in revolutionising healthcare, she is motivated to study digital health in the UK to acquire the essential knowledge needed to advance healthcare digitization in Malaysia. Her experience as a pharmacist has fuelled her passion for exploring digital innovations in healthcare.
Even during her university years, her forward-thinking mindset was evident. She developed an E-Health platform called Forget Me Not, focusing on women’s sexual health and wellbeing, which won First Runner Up in the MIHS The Big I Competition. Her ultimate goal is to lead the charge in Malaysia by driving four key advancements: digitising patient data, implementing e-prescriptions and video consultations, enhancing accessibility to recent prescription-medicine overviews, and developing local healthcare apps for personalised treatment, including disease assessment, ECG monitoring, and blood sugar/pressure management.
Vilashini’s journey from healthcare to STEM exemplifies her commitment to leveraging digital innovations to enhance healthcare delivery in Malaysia. Her pioneering efforts and vision for the future underscore the transformative impact of integrating technology with healthcare. She is eager to connect with fellow IMU alumni and current students interested in exploring the intersection of healthcare and digitalisation. Her enthusiasm for collaboration and knowledge-sharing highlights her dedication to fostering a digitally advanced healthcare landscape.
About Women in STEM Scholarship Programme
The Women in STEM Scholarship Programme, part of the Going Global Partnerships initiative, provides funding for women from eligible countries to pursue a one-year master’s degree in the UK. This scholarship aims to address the well-documented gender gap in STEM fields. Despite being, on average, 8% more productive, women constitute a small fraction of the workforce and research teams in STEM. They are also published less, paid less, and are less likely to attain leadership positions.
Closing the gender gap in STEM is a crucial strategy for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Five – Gender Equality. The impact extends beyond direct gender equity. For instance, there is a strong positive correlation between women’s authorship of medical research papers and the inclusion of gender and sex analysis, which is increasingly recognized as essential for creating better healthcare, particularly for women and girls.
The British Council has established various programmes to support women and girls in STEM worldwide, designed with a lifecycle approach. These initiatives inspire young girls to pursue STEM and support women in STEM fields to reach leadership positions and network with peers both regionally and in the UK.
The main benefits of this scholarship are
➢ Financial assistance, including tuition fees, stipend for 12 months including or covering accommodation, return travel costs, visa and insurance/NHS surcharge.
➢ English language support, through training where necessary to meet university or course language requirements, and IELTS fee waivers.
