Why we should all be angrier about urinary tract infection, Prof Jenny Rohn
Recorded at Ada Lovelace Day Live at the Royal Institution on 10 October 2023
Upwards of 400 million people (mostly women) get a urinary tract infection annually, a figure that’s on the rise and which is associated with a worrying global crisis of antibiotic failure. Despite their apparent simplicity, UTIs are anything but straightforward: they are difficult to diagnose and treat, and often return again and again. When you delve into what’s happening deep within the bladder, where ancient but canny bacteria are pitted against our seemingly more advanced defence systems and often come out the winner despite antibiotics, it becomes clear why they are so challenging.
About Prof Jenny Rohn
Professor Jenny Rohn is head of the centre for urological biology in the department of renal medicine in the Division of Medicine at University College London. Jenny runs a research laboratory studying urinary tract infection, an incredibly common malady that afflicts hundreds of millions of people each year and inflicts a tremendous healthcare burden. Despite this, like many diseases primarily affecting women, UTI has been historically understudied, and there have been no new therapies developed since Alexander Fleming discovered antibiotics nearly a century ago. Jenny and her team are working hard to find better ways to treat this notoriously tricky infection, where the bacteria have evolved many devious strategies to subvert our immune defences.
About Ada Lovelace Day
Ada Lovelace Day is an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths which aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and create new role models for both girls and women studying or working in STEM.
Ada Lovelace Day Live 2023 was held at the Royal Institution on Tuesday 10 October. It was hosted by comedian Helen Arney, and featured Prof Jennifer Rohn, head of the Centre for Urological Biology UCL; Dr Azza Eltraify, senior software engineer at Ultracell Networks Ltd; Dr Sophie Carr, mathematician, Bays Consulting Ltd; Dr Aarathi Prasad, writer, broadcaster, and geneticist; Dr Anjana Khatwa, Earth scientist and presenter; Dr Antonia Pontiki, biomedical engineer at King’s College London; and Rosie Curran Crawley, presenter at L’Oreal Young Scientist Centre.
About the Royal Institution
The Royal Institution brings the public and scientists together to share their interest and passion for science, empowering people to explore and get involved.
An independent registered charity, the Ri provides science education, public engagement, and heritage activities for people of all ages and backgrounds across the UK and around the world. These activities include the world-famous Christmas Lectures; public talks from the world's greatest thinkers in its historic lecture theatre and livestreamed online; a successful YouTube channel with over 1.3 million subscribers, a national programme of Ri Masterclasses for young people in mathematics, engineering and computer science; hands-on science workshops in its L'Oréal Young Scientist Centre; award winning animations and films; and the preservation of its scientific legacy through the Faraday Museum and archival collections.
The Ri is a home for science and everyone is welcome. Follow the Ri on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.