Laura Jess
Position: Events Chair
events-chair@artp.org.uk
Who am I?
I am the Head of Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Physiology at NHS Lothian in Edinburgh. I started as a Trainee Physiologist in 2008 in adult services within the Health Board, gained post-graduate and leadership experience through internal specialist roles, and then in 2019 moved to a role as Lead for Sleep Medicine. Fast forward 3 years, I then found myself in my current role in Paediatrics, working with the most fantastic team, patients and families.
In 2016, I was the recipient of two awards – one at the Healthcare Science National Event, and the second the ARTP Scotland Barbara Oatway award. I have been fortunate enough to be encouraged and invested in from early in my career, and therefore development and providing opportunities is something I continually strive to adopt in the leadership of my workforce.
I hold further committee posts, including Chair of the ARTP Scotland regional group, and I am passionate about all things strategic and working with relevant stakeholders to progress and increase the visibility of Healthcare Science. My most recent accomplishment was being asked to speak at the Cross-Parliamentary Group for Lung Health at the Scottish Parliament.
A bit about me
My number one main quality is my level of organisation. I am the organiser of work life, family life, social life, holiday life, treasurer and secretary all in one. For this reason I have inherited the nickname of “the octopus”, due to my ability to multi-task. Not many people know this, but this is likely inherited from a previous role I had as an Events and Marketing Manager for a conferencing and events company. In the past I have also worked for a pharmaceutical company in Dispensary and Toxicology, and therefore it could be said that science has always been my calling, as this is where I have come full circle back to (and plan to stay!).
Personally, I am a wife, mum, dog mum and “soccer mom” (I spend much of my entire weekend cheering at the side of my daughter’s football pitch). Over the last couple of years I have enjoyed supporting a local football team and even more so supporting Scotland in international championships – it’s not about winning but taking part, right? Unintentionally, football has become what seems a big part of my life, and in 2017 I was involved in setting up a football development club which is free to attend for 2-9 year olds in my local community. This is something that I am still involved in, is so rewarding and is something that I am particularly proud of.
Lastly, my other great passion in life is travelling. My method to ensuring I never get holiday blues is to ensure I have at least another one booked! My most recent trip abroad was to the beautiful island of Santorini. My bucket list place (should I ever be fortunate enough to be able to go) is the island of Bora Bora.
What would you like to achieve in your role?
Being involved in the organisation of events for ARTP is extremely rewarding. Seeing the finer details come together and any challenges overcome to improve the experience of the delegates makes me incredibly happy. To know that this experience contributes to the development of our Healthcare Scientists at all stages of their career makes me feel like I am giving something back, in addition to developing the future leaders of our profession.
As we navigate from hotel to conference centre, this is a new era for the ARTP events committee. We have taken much learning from our first conference centre event this year, and hope to do even bigger and better next year!