FuturePub London - International Women's Day
Authors: Das Subhadra , Draux Hélène , Rohn Jennifer , Twyman Joe , Devlin Kate 
Published: April 2024

#FuturePub is back in London for our first event of 2024 and, by popular demand, we are thrilled to be hosting this at the awesome ping ping club Bounce in Farringdon once again!The focus of this FuturePub is to create a platform for conversation around inclusion, from gender imbalance in research and tech to intersectional challenges faced by people across the world, and how a more diverse research workforce and tech designed with everyone in mind will ultimately lead us through some of the challenges we face as a global society and towards a better quality of life for all.Speakers for the evening will be announced soon but we have reserved a couple of slots in case YOU or someone you know would like to join our line-up. If you're interested in speaking at this #FuturePub, or a future #FuturePub, let us know by filling out [this short proposal form](https://forms.gle/rXwMCYMeFiqJsVKeA).The History We DeserveI'll be telling the story of Edward Drinker Cope, a nineteenth-century American scientist whose research ran the gamut from dinosaur hunting to false notions of the sex binary and what it means to be civilised. I'll be considering how this highly influential but relatively lesser-known figure in the history of science left a legacy we need to be mindful of today in the interests of greater social justice.
Subhadra Das is a writer, historian, broadcaster and comedian who looks at the relationship between science and society. She specialises in the history and philosophy of science, particularly the history of scientific racism and eugenics. For nine years she was Curator of the Science Collections at University College London. She has written and presented podcasts and stand-up comedy shows, curated museum exhibitions, and has appeared on radio and TV. Her first book Uncivilised: Ten Lies That Made The West is out now.What The Decline in Women’s First Publications Means For ResearchDespite past progress, including women in the US surpassing men in doctoral degree attainment, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women, potentially halting or reversing their academic advancements. Based on data from dimensions.ai and Gender API, we explore the trend from 2000 onwards, noting a significant drop in women's first publications in recent years. This presentation highlights the importance of recognising and addressing the systemic challenges faced by women in academia, emphasising a call to action for institutions and funders to support and retain women in research, ensuring their contributions continue to enrich and diversify the field.Outsmarting urinary tract infectionUrinary tract infections (UTI) affect a staggering 400 million people each year, and the gold-standard treatment, oral antibiotics, often fails. This is because the bacteria which cause UTI have clever ways of evading antibiotics, but therapy innovations in this "mostly women" disease space have been hampered by lack of interest, urgency and research funding. In this talk, you'll learn more about how bacteria hide from drug attack, and one possible solution to get around it.Sex with Strangers: Why Data Context MattersA research study from the 1970s became a definitive work on the differences in sexual behaviour between men and women. The study was so significant it inspired a dance hit in the 1990s that made the top ten across Europe. But all was not as it seems...Navigating the AI 'Sea of Dudes'In 2016, computer scientist Margaret Mitchell described AI as a "sea of dudes". What has the discipline done in that time to improve things and make it fairer and more representative of the world? Hahaha. Nothing. This is 5 minutes on the lack of – and need for – women in AI. (Yes, we know and celebrate Ada Lovelace. No, that doesn't fix things.)