Find out more about the winner of the 'iGlobal' Science and Technology Champion of the Year Award, her journey from India to become a part of the University of Oxford's team behind one of the crucial vaccines against the novel coronavirus on which the world's hopes rest.
The awards were introduced to honour high achievers from within the British Indian community, who have been making an extraordinary contribution in these difficult times.
“We Indians are rocking the world and ‘iGlobal’ is a great platform that connects us Global Indians,” says Chandrabali Datta, the winner in the Science & Tech Champion of the Year category.
“This has been the biggest and most challenging year, to get a vaccine manufactured within a month, which usually takes years,” recalls the Quality Assurance Manager at the Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility at the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute, which is conducting fast-track trials of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 – one of the leading vaccine candidates being tested for its potential to protect against coronavirus.
She explains: “My contribution was to check that everything is compliant, standard operating procedures (SOPs) are followed and no mistakes are made. Now, we are all hoping that it works in the next stage. The whole world is looking to this vaccine. Thanks to all the volunteers who are participating in the trials.”
“My parents were really worried and paranoid about me going in to work during this crisis. But I had to help my team. We were classified as keyworkers and took all precautions.
“Everyone has worked around the clock to make this successful, to make it out to the clinical trials. It was about team effort, collaboration and communication and supporting each other.”
*Watch the winner’s full interview in the attached video. For other winners’ stories of the first-ever iGlobal Impact Awards, click here.