Julia Gillard, the first woman to serve as Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister (2010-13) of Australia, described her appointment as the new chair of the Wellcome Trust as “a dream come true”, adding that “I will relish supporting and speaking up for scientific research into key health challenges. I look forward to working with all those in the Wellcome family, including the Board, the staff who are led by the remarkable Jeremy Farrar, the research community and all those focused on the health of humanity.”
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Gillard was a prominent figure in Australia’s economic recovery from the 2008 financial crash and also implemented significant education and healthcare reforms. Since leaving office in Australia, she has taken on roles as chair of both the Global Partnership for Education and mental health awareness body Beyond Blue. Her appointment is to be welcomed. She will replace another inspiring woman, Eliza Manningham-Buller, former Director General of MI5, the outgoing chair in April 2021.

It was great to hear that the Boots Archive has been successful in obtaining funding from the Wellcome Trust to make the archive more accessible to academic researchers, including digitisation of much of its content. A Wellcome-Boots Advisory Board, comprising representatives from Boots, including the archivist, Sophie Clapp, and from the Wellcome, as well as academics from Warwick Business School, will recommend how best the archive can be opened up and suggest potential research themes across disciplines. Following on from the ICA conference in Milan, this is a great way of demonstrating how the archive can provide a good return on investment. 

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