Catherine Ross is the Chief Scientific Officer for Scotland, Scottish Government’s most senior clinical advisor for Healthcare Science professional issues, and head of profession for the scientific workforce within the NHS in Scotland. She provides expert professional advice to Scottish Ministers and Policy Officials and leadership for all aspects of policy which impact on the scientific workforce including education, research and clinical practice.

Catherine is a non-executive director of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Northern Irelands largest health trust. Catherine is a Chartered Scientist and Chartered Biologist and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, the Academy of Healthcare Science, the National Institute of Prevention and Cardiovascular Health in Ireland and the European Society of Cardiology. She is a Visiting Professor at Edinburgh Napier University, Manchester Metropolitan University and Honorary Research Consultant in NHS Lothian.

Catherine holds a number of senior leadership positions Nationally and Internationally and has served as the President of the Professional Body for Cardiac Scientists. She is the current Vice-Chair of the Science Council, the international awarding body of Chartership in Science, as well as a member of the Science Council Board of Trustees and Chair of the Policy Advisory Committee. She is currently an executive Board member of the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions within the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and is the current Secretary/Treasurer of the Board and Chair of the European Society of Cardiology Taskforce on Allied Professionals. She represents Scotland on the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) Board and is a member of the International (IFMBE) scientific programme committee. In recognition of her work supporting women leaders has been an invited delegate for the UK UN Women delegation on the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Catherine’s professional interests include cross-boundary working, professional identity and heart failure and is an Editorial Board member of the British Journal of Cardiology and peer reviewer for a number of international scientific journals. She has led and been involved in a number of STEM initiatives aimed at inspiring children and in particular girls, to pursue a career in science.

It’s a great honour to be nominated by the Board of Trustees to be the next Science Council President. I have been involved with the Science Council for several years, most recently as a trustee and Chair of the Policy Advisory Committee. It’s an exciting time for the Science Council as we start to develop our next strategy and plan to build on the profile and esteem that the Science Council has developed in recent years.

Political, social, and environmental change in the UK and around the world will continue to create challenges for our Members and registrants, but also opportunities. The Science Council has an important contribution to make in upholding public trust and confidence in science and the scientific workforce.

As a Chartered Scientist, I am committed to upholding the highest professional standards in my work. As President it would be my privilege to represent the interests of the thousands of science professionals we support through our registers. Being President will enable me to amplify the valuable work taking place across our membership and champion the importance of professional registration and investment in the scientific workforce.

As we move into a new strategic period, my priority will be to identify where I can make the most difference and support the delivery of our objectives. The President plays an important role as the public face of the Science Council. I aim to build upon the relationships that Professor Carole Mundell developed during her time as President, with professional bodies, governments, national academies, academia and other stakeholders.

I am passionate about maintaining the UK as a leading scientific nation. I am keen to better understand from our Members how we can harness our collective influencing work so that together we can help prepare the wider scientific community to respond to the most pressing global challenges.

A key challenge for the science profession is continuing to be at the forefront of equity, diversity and inclusion. The Science Council, in partnership with its Members, has done so much over the past few years on embracing people from diverse backgrounds into the science profession. But there is always more to do. So a personal priority over the next two years is to promote inclusion across the profession to help create opportunities for the current and future scientific workforce to fulfil their scientific potential irrespective of background or circumstance.