2023 Teaching Excellence Awardees

Prof Jill O’Reilly – for her ongoing commitment to the improvement of the teaching of statistics in the four main undergraduate degree courses taught by Experimental Psychology and for her development of a new practical class teaching as well as the redesigning of the examination format for mathematics-based examinations within the Medical Sciences Division, all changes which impact an exceptionally large number of students.

• “The online textbook for tutorial exercises is amazing” [Student feedback]
•  “The explanations were all very clear and well supported by worked examples incorporated into the presentations. Explaining the same concept in several different ways by approaching it from different angles, facilitated the overall understanding of the content” [Student feedback]
• “an outstanding candidate deserving of the highest level of award” [Senior Academic]

Associate Professor David Sims – in recognition of his outstanding contribution to education through the substantial impact of the Oxford Biomedical Data Science (OBDS) programme launched in 2018. To date OBDS has trained over 190 biomedical researchers, influencing skill development, enabling analysis of complex biomedical datasets, contributing to numerous DPhil theses and high impact publications as well as positively impacting career opportunities in both academia and beyond.

• “David is an exemplary scientist and educator; his work and contributions have my full support” [Senior Academic]
• ”As evidenced by its capacity to have an excellent impact on students around the world, it gives me great pleasure to say that the OBDS exceeds expectations”[Student feedback]

Professor Chris Norbury – for his substantial and ongoing commitment to the teaching of students in the Medical Sciences Division and the outstanding contribution to teaching excellence.

• “Highly regarded by both students and colleagues with multiple nominations for divisional awards” [Senior Academic]

Professor Gaia Scerif – in recognition of her sustained and outstanding contribution to the teaching psychology at both undergraduate and graduate levels. For the development and transformation of the two main undergraduate degree courses offered by the Department of Experimental Psychology from a 3 year BA degree to a four year MSci course from concept, through university approval, review and consultation and finally implementation and ongoing improvements. For her engagement in all aspects of teaching and governance within the University.

• “Gaia is a great leader; very engaged in the practical and helpful when a student is stuck” [Student feedback]
• “Gaia is also very mindful about the impact of changes on academic and support staff and works to ensure a balance is achieved to result in a satisfying working environment for everyone” [Senior Administrator]

Lifetime Achievement

Dr Ruth Wilson – for her dedication and inspirational course leadership as an educational innovator, and her continued commitment to undergraduate teaching across all 6 years of the Oxford degree.

• “she just listens and reflects with great kindness and great humour and you can see and hear the students growing in skill and confidence…because of her kindness”. [Senior Academic]
• “Dr Wilson has brought a warm, open and profoundly innovative streak to everything she does, developing interdisciplinarity across a number of clinical departments within the Medical Sciences Division, and committing to robust, timely and thoughtful remediation for students in difficulty - with excellent results.” [Senior Academic]

Dr Jane Moore – for her high quality and sustained commitment to achieving positive outcomes for students, for her championing of innovative initiatives across the Medical School in Oxford and further field.

• “Miss Moore has been an outstanding teacher at Oxford, respected and relied upon by very experienced faculty - and valued by students who have been inspired to pursue a career in WRH by her passion and commitment.” [Senior Academic]

Dr Laurence Leaver – in recognition of a long term dedicated commitment to teaching pre-clinical and clinical students and passing on his extensive and invaluable experience in general practice to over 21 cohorts and for his willingness to go beyond what might be reasonably expected of a GP tutor.

• “As well as providing great support to his students, his model, which involved recruiting, training and supporting young doctors as teachers, provided mentored educational opportunities to many doctors in training.” [Senior Academic]
• “wonderful teacher and mentor”, “incredibly intellectual” and “brilliant”. [Student feedback]

Professor Stuart Ferguson – for his outstanding and exceptional contribution to Biochemistry teaching and scholarship at Oxford and in recognition of 37 years of providing the highest quality teaching and making substantial contributions to teaching innovation and the spread of good teaching practice.

• “I would say that Stuart Ferguson has consistently delivered outstanding teaching and scholarship in Biochemistry over a period of some 40 years. Colleagues have shared with me their admiration for his depth of knowledge, commitment, good humour and ability to engage students with the passion he feels for his subject through exceptional story-telling. It has always been obvious that Stuart cares deeply about good teaching, and about the development of our undergraduate and postgraduate students. He always challenged students to be even better, and in doing so acted as an important role model for all of us.” [Senior Academic]
• “Professor Ferguson is always engaging and gives extra information that isn't in the handout just to absolutely confirm that it was worth getting out of bed to come. I really like that he doesn't use the projector, and actually explains concepts, background, and why each concept is significant.” [Student feedback]

Professor Jon Austyn – in recognition of a lifelong commitment to learning and a relentless dedication to teaching, and improving the teaching of immunology. For his unwavering enthusiasm, his consistent engagement with the entirety of the large and diverse immunology research and clinical community in Oxford.

• ”I could not think of a more amazing educator, mentor and scientist who has not only been the key person who has made the MSc in Integrated Immunology course such a shining success, but also set the standard for immunology education through a life-time of dedication to excellence in immunology. He has inspired the next generation of scientists and clinicians equipped to deliver on their potential.” [Senior Academic]
• “The course has been the most formative year of my professional career and had a positive impact on my career prospects.” [Student feedback]

Excellent Teacher

Commendation for high-quality teaching

• Professor Robert Hepach – Department of Experimental Psychology
• Dr Ifor Capel – Teaching Associate Green Templeton College
• Dr Abhisek Ghosh – Nuffield Division of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Radcliffe Department of Medicine

Early Career Excellent Teacher

• Dr Robert Conway – Teaching Fellow Green Templeton College
• Dr Lior Pytowski – Sir William Dunn School of Pathology
• Mr Oliver P Featherstone – Nuffield Department of Medicine

Commendation for high-quality early career teaching

• Dr Nir Shalev – Department of Experimental Psychology
• Dr Daniel Foran – Nuffield Department of Medicine

Excellent Supervisor

• Dr Charlotte Albury – Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences
• Professor Ester Hammond – Department of Oncology
• Professor Paul N Newton – Nuffield Department of Medicine
• Professor David Mole – Nuffield Department of Medicine
• Professor Rebeccah Slater – Department of Paediatrics 

• Ms Charlotte Turner – Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences
• Ms Rebecca Cardus – Department of Experimental Psychology
• Mr Daniel Walters – Department of Experimental Psychology

Projects

• Dr Emma Sadler (Dissecting medicine's past: an exploration of the historical, legal and ethical context of cadaver use in medical education for students about to start their anatomy teaching) – This award will support the development, delivery, and evaluation of a new teaching session for Year 1 / GEM Year 1 medical students entitled “Dissecting medicine’s past”.  For most, this may be the first exposure to cadavers, a topic of a sensitive nature.
• Dr Monique Andersson (OnWard- A mobile phone application to improve access to ward-based clinical learning opportunities for medical students - This award will connect medical educators to clinical medical students at times which are convenient to both teachers and students. The application will facilitate a greater number of bedside teaching sessions, which will benefit both clinician-teachers and students.
• Dr Sharmila Saran Rajendran (Enhancing inclusive learning environments using smart whiteboard and virtual reality)- this project aims to incorporate and integrate the latest technological advancements with traditional teaching for an effective inclusive learning environment for the BM1/BM2/Graduate Entry Medicine Students.
• Dr Susanne Hodgson (Design and Implementation of a novel, clinically focused immunology workshop for graduate entry medical students) – This award will support the design, implementation and evaluation of a novel, clinically relevant small group, workshop on immunological principals, with the aim of enhancing the learning of experience of graduate entry medical students (GEMS).
• Dr Sarah Millette (Discharge Summary Simulation Workshop) – This project will enable the scope to offer optional teaching in Discharge Summary writing, via a short lecture and simulation workshop, to all final year medical students after their final exams in January. 
• Dr Daniel Foran (Development of a gamified clinical teaching programme and assessment of its value in improving medical student clinical knowledge; competence in the interpretation and management of clinical investigations and data; and student satisfaction with teaching compared to didactic lecture-based teaching) – this award will aim to improve the quality of patient care through the use of novel teaching methods, to specifically target bridging the gap between cognitive knowledge acquired in the earlier, pre-clinical years of medical school to behavioural practice that reflects the real-world clinical setting. 

Congratulations to all of the awardees.