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Sara Rankin
Professor at Imperial College London
Sara Rankin is a prominent figure in Regenerative Pharmacology, specializing in the development of drugs that target mesenchymal stem cells and tissue regeneration.
As the lead for Outreach and Public Engagement at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, Sara has spearheaded various projects such as the Heart and Lung Repair shop and Palaces.org.uk.
She is a passionate advocate for neurodiversity in STEM, being dyslexic/dyspraxic herself, and has founded 2eMPowerUK to provide unique STEM workshops for students with learning differences.
Sara Rankin holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Pharmacology and a First-class BSc in Pharmacology, both from King's College London.
Currently a Professor at Imperial College London, she has previously held positions as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the University of California San Diego.
Highlights
Old news makes the front page in the Guardian
This working paper was presented at a conference in 2022.
It investigates whether children who are underperforming at age 3 and 5 - in a range of tests, are those failing to obtain grade 4 and above in GCSEs in maths and English. The answer is yes.
The paper analysed the social, environmental and individual characteristics that could contribute to these low attainment levels.
What it does not consider is whether low attainment can be explained by children being neurodivergent (ND) ie dyslexic, dyspraxic, Dyscalculic, having ADHD.
Given that 15-20% of the population is ND - with at least 10% having dyslexia it is likely to contribute to outcomes in exams
My own analysis of DoE data shows ND children underperforming in maths and English at age 11 and at 16 in GCSE.
The reason this study does not consider whether children are ND is that a child cannot be diagnosed with dyslexia, for example, until age 7 plus.
Many ND children are not getting a diagnosis. For most ND children the education system is not working for them. For example research shows teaching dyslexic children how to spell with phonics does not work.
We need to make the education system inclusive such that we are not failing ND children.
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