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4 | Somerville MagazineNews & People...Margaret Casely-HayfordAnna PooleSomerville NewsProfessor Aditi Lahiri,Fellow and Professor of Linguistics, has been elected an honorarymember of the Linguistic Society of America.Professor Matthew Wood,Fellow and Tutor in Medicine and Physiology, will lead a new 30million Euro project to develop new methods for drug delivery.The project has been launched by a new public-private consortium(known as COMPACT), funded by the Innovative MedicinesInitiative (IMI) of the EU, and will focus on improving the deliveryof biopharmaceutical drugs.Professor Wood says that this important project is “a vitalopportunity to bring the strengths of academia and industrytogether to dramatically improve the delivery of new drugs intothe brain. Within five years we aim to have safe and effective newmethods available to test in patients.”A major challenge in treating many currently incurable neurologicaldiseases, such as Alzheimer’s, is to achieve effective drug deliveryto the brain across the blood brain barrier (a natural barrierthat protects the brain). The new IMI project aims to tackle thischallenge within the next five years.Professor Dame Nancy Rothwellwas named in February as one of the 100 most powerful women inthe UK in the BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour Power List.Alumni NewsFarah Bhatti (1984, Physiology) andDina Medland (Kapur, 1977, PPE)both appeared on this year’s Asian Women of Achievementshortlist. Farah was the first female consultant cardiothoracicsurgeon in Wales, and the fourth woman in the UK to hold such arole. Dina is a journalist who contributes regularly to the FinancialTimes and the FT-NED website, among others, is a columnist forChartered Secretary magazine, as well as writing a popular blog onboardroom issues.Dr Doreen Boyce (Vaughan, 1953, PPE)has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the ThreeRivers Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors(NACD). This award was been given to her in recognition of herleadership in corporate governance and women’s advocacy and forher role in creating three well-respected organisations, includingthe Three Rivers Chapter of the NACD, the Executive Women’sCouncil and the International Women’s Forum.Margaret Casely-Hayford (1980, Law)has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the NHSCommissioning Board by the Government. The Board hasresponsibility for overseeing the effective, efficient and appropriateuse of the £95 billion budget for commissioning services for thewhole country. It’s a great privilege for Margaret to have beenasked to join the Board, particularly at a time of great changefor the NHS, as the Minister transferred power and oversightresponsibility for the NHS to the Board in April this year.