Dr Melissa Tiskaya, a graduate of Materials Science and Engineering, who also completed a PhD at Queen Mary, has won the prestigious June Wilson award from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and the London Materials Society.

Founded by Prof Larry Hench in honour of his wife June Wilson, a pioneer in biomedical materials, the award is given yearly to a female student or early-career female scientist who has demonstrated excellence in Materials Science. This is the first time anyone from Queen Mary has won the award.

Dr Tiskaya joined the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary in 2015 to study for a BEng in Dental Materials. She did her 3rd year project with Prof Karin Hing and Prof Robert Hill, the success of which gained her a six month internship at Dentsply Sirona, one of the world's largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies. She then went on to do a PhD under Prof Hill's supervision.

The award was given in recognition of Melissa's PhD and post-doctoral work in the field of bioactive glasses in dental composites to promote remineralisation and prevent secondary (recurrent) caries. It also recognised the patented toothpaste formulation to treat hypersensitivity and promote remineralisation.

Prof Hing said “I'm delighted to hear that Melissa has won this highly prestigious award, she was one of our star undergraduate students when studying with us at SEMS, with a passion for dental materials and promoting women in STEM, exactly the sort of person Larry would have had in mind when he established this award in memory of June.”