A Trinity professor and a Launchbox graduate have been named in a new list of Ireland’s top 25 most powerful women, alongside some of the biggest names in Irish society.
Prof Lydia Lynch, who is an associate professor of immunology in Trinity, was named in the Women’s Executive Network’s list of Ireland’s most powerful women. She received the award alongside Launchbox graduate and FoodCloud co-founder Iseult Ward.
The annual list, which has been published since 2012, selects the most influential and successful women in Ireland and both Lynch and Ward appear alongside some of the biggest names in Irish media, finance and law. Women’s Executive Network is an international organisation that supports women with mentoring and networking and the annual list has long been used to recognise the success of Irish women across various fields.
Lynch, in a press statement, said she was “proud to receive this award as a woman and mother in science”.
“I hope it shows that if I can do it, others can too. It doesn’t matter what kind of background, gender or family you’re from.” Lynch’s research focuses on the role that our immune systems have in regulating metabolism, with the aim being to understand how our immune systems could be used to target cancer.
“Cancer immunotherapy is at an exciting time and the more we are finding out about how to reinvigorate the immune system to attack cancer, the better the chances are of it working in more people”, she said.
Ward, whose company is often touted as one of the great successes of Trinity’s summer-long accelerator programme, only began FoodCloud in 2014 but the company has already established itself as an important social enterprise business. The company helps businesses redistribute surplus or short-dated food to charities across Ireland. Alison Treacy, the manager of Launchbox, said in a press statement: “Iseult was part of our 2014 programme, and since then has been a valuable supporter of and ambassador for LaunchBox and its student entrepreneurs. We are so pleased and proud to have been able to support her and FoodCloud in the early days of the company.”
This year, Launchbox launched a campaign to encourage more women to get involved in entrepreneurship.
Other names on the list include everyone from Olympian Annalise Murphy; the Director General of RTÉ, Dee Forbes; the CEO of Leicester City Football Club, Susan Whelan; and Justice Siofra O’Leary, a judge in the European Court of Human Rights.
Both Lynch and Ward received their award in the “trailblazers” category.
In a press statement, Sherri Stevens, CEO of the Women’s Executive Network, said: “Our winners include an Olympic Silver Medallist, a Michelin-starred chef, many CEOs and entrepreneurs, a European Court of Human Rights Justice and a professor whose research is changing our understanding of obesity and immunity.”
“All 25 are trailblazers and role models for the generations who will follow”, she added.
