About Our Novi Academia/Education 2024

Asra Aslam

Dr Asra Aslam is incoming Assistant Professor of Data Science and AI at University of Sheffield, UK. She is currently Research Fellow and Machine Learning Lead @DynAIRx, University of Leeds (UoL), UK. She is also Principal Investigator (PI) at Alan Turing institute in collaboration with Industry “Transport for London TfL” and also Honorary Visiting Researcher at Newcastle university, UK. She is also currently “Founder & Director” of start-up “YourAlly”. She is currently leading research & development of Machine Learning models on DynAIRx project, teaching AI/ML in Health Sciences department, and supervising Masters and PhD students. Her research interests are Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Smart Cities, and Health Sciences. Before joining UoL she worked in industry for 2 years as a “Machine Learning Research Scientist” at Manchester, UK. She completed her Ph.D. in 2021 from the Insight Centre for Data Analytics, University of Galway, Ireland. Previously, she also worked as a Lecturer in the Dept. of Computer Engineering, ZHCET, India where she completed her Masters and Bachelor’s. She is recipient of Global Talent Endorsement (with Exceptional) by UKRI, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Fellowship, GATE, IDB, and other awards. She authored over 27 research publications, receiving more than 1300 citations, an H-index of 8 (Google Scholar), and a Field-Weighted Citation Impact of 5.43 (Scopus). She also served as an Area Chair and Program Committee in multiple leading international conferences and journals including IEEE Access, ICML, NeurIPS (WiML), CVPR (WiCV), ICML, AISTATS, MTAP Journal, SyntheticData4ML, Journal of Communication System, Imaging Science Journal, IEEE Transactions etc. She is on Editorial Board of Springer Nature Journal, and Guest Editor for Special Issue on MDPI  Journal of Imaging. She is also Co-PI on multiple funding grants including NIHR Team Science, Alan Turing, Horizon, AIM-RSF, UKRI CDT etc. She is General Chair for Women in Computer Vision (WiCV) and organized multiple workshops in conferences like IEEE/CVF CVPR in US, Canada, and Europe and provide funding to >100 Early Career Female Researchers through sponsorships. She is also Academics AI Lead UK for Women in AI (WAI >10,000 members). Due to her commitment in promoting STEM in diverse communities in last 4 years and contributions in science, she got declared as “Highly Commended” winner for Women of the Future Awards, UK in Nov 2023, Top-5 Finalist of Digital Technology Leaders Award and Women In Tech Excellence Awards, and included among Top-30 Rising Stars in the UK. Recently, her research of 2 years got shortlisted among one of the top-2 finalists for the prestigious ‘Hildi Franke Award’ for her contributions in medical domain and will be utilised in primary-care/hospitals and NIHR based projects in UK.

Bernadine Idowu

Dr. Bernadine Idowu is a Professor of Biomedical Sciences and is the 73rd Black female Professor in the UK out of approx. 24,405 professors.
 
She has a passion for inclusive education within Biomedical Sciences and developed a high-quality diverse and inclusive Biomedical science curriculum. Four years later, the Biomedical Science course was ranked during the recent National Student Survey 1st in London and 4th in the UK.
 
Professor Idowu was nominated for the 13th African Achievers Award in July 2023 under the Category of Academic Impact and was presented the award at a reception in the House of Parliament, guest of Lord Wooley of Woodford. She was also shortlisted for the University Alliance awards.
 
Professor Idowu is regularly invited to deliver keynote speeches nationally and internationally.
 
Her Leadership skills have produced a transformational impact, helping Early Career Researchers to progress in higher education with support from Research Councils and charities. This has developed into an international network with annual conferences running since 2017 and was instrumental in obtaining the 3.7 million UKRI-MRC committed to facilitating this work.

Camille Baker

Camille Baker is an artist-performer/researcher/curator within various art forms. Maker of participatory performance and immersive artwork, she develops methods to explore expressive non-verbal modes of communication, extended embodiment and presence in real and mixed reality and interactive art contexts, using XR, haptics/ e-textiles, wearable devices and mobile media.
 
She has an ongoing fascination with all things emotional, embodied, felt, sensed, the visceral, physical, and relational. Her current art work is Mammary Mountain with collaborators Maf’j Alvarez and Tara Baoth Mooney on the experiences and stories of survivors and patients of Breast Cancer treatment in the UK and Ireland, touring at Venice Biennale Film Festival 2024 Immersive Program, London Film Festival BFI Expanded 2024, and Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2024 and others –  https://mammary-vr.art/; and previous  VR installation artwork was INTER/her: An Intimate Journey Inside the Female Body inter-her.art/; LUMEN Prize 2021 shortlisted in the 3D / Interactive category.
 
She is also a Senior Tutor for the Digital Direction Masters Programme at the Royal College of Art and Professor of Interactive and Immersive Arts.

Joanitha Ntangeki

Dr. Joanitha Ntangeki is an accomplished academic, business consultant, and founder of the Sisters Talk Foundation, a platform dedicated to empowering women and fostering positive change. She holds a PhD in Law and a Certificate in Academic Practice, specializing in Commercial Law and International Investment Agreements. Dr. Joanitha is widely recognized for her problem-solving expertise and her contributions to advancing knowledge in these fields.
 
In 2024, she was honored as one of the University of Plymouth’s Inspirational Staff Members on International Women’s Day, highlighting her leadership and influence within the academic community. A passionate advocate for lifelong learning, Dr. Joanitha believes in the power of diversity and values the common struggles and aspirations that unite all individuals.
 
Her mission is to inspire women and girls to realize their potential, firmly believing that “if you can dream it, you can achieve it.” Through education, mentorship, and advocacy, Dr. Joanitha is committed to helping others overcome challenges and achieve their personal and professional goals.

Rebecca Padgett

Senior Teaching Fellow, Executive Education Facilitator and Academic Programme Director at Leeds University Business School.

Tamsin Bowers-Brown

Dr Tamsin Bowers-Brown is founding Director of the Office for Institutional Equity at Leeds Trinity University. As a sociologist of education, Tamsin has worked in universities for over 20 years in the roles of researcher, lecturer and in leadership roles. Tamsin is passionate about tackling inequality in all its forms and is actively working to instigate and embed collaborative approaches across the University & region to collectively challenge inequality and promote an environment which encourages transformative change.