Celebrating our women in Science

11 February 2021

UNESCO’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science aims to recognise the critical role women and girls play in science and technology. To mark the day, we are shining a spotlight on three world-class scientists whose industry-leading research is supporting BAT’s transformation.

As a company, we have a clear purpose to build A Better Tomorrow by reducing the health impact of our business. To do that, we need fresh, diverse thinking in science and innovation. That is why our Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) initiative to attract and retain more female talent in our Research & Development, Operations, and Information & Digital Technology functions is so important.

We are proud members of WISE (Women into Science and Engineering), an education and networking organisation that supports women in STEM. We are also committed to both our Women in Leadership programme and 30% Mentoring Club to help increase the number of women in senior roles.

One of those leading the way in R&D is Carlista Moore Condé, Head of New Sciences. Growing up in the southern states of the USA, Carlista’s interest in science started to develop at a young age, and, after more than two decades working for some of the world’s biggest companies, her love of science remains as strong as ever.

“Science and technology touch virtually all aspects of our lives and I find that fascinating,” Carlista says. “I love challenges, actually I need them to feel fulfilled.

“One of the things that truly excites me about my role is that the primary objective of the function is to create a solid scientific foundation to support our product portfolio and this work is directly linked to our company’s core purpose to build A Better Tomorrow by reducing the health impact of our business and offering adult consumers a greater choice of potentially less risky products.”

Another important member of the BAT R&D community is Analytical Scientist, Dr Isabel Pinto.

Isabel works on the chemical characterisation of our Potentially Reduced-Risk Products and says one of the things she enjoys most about her role is being able to collaborate with other colleagues in R&D.

“I’m really passionate about my work at BAT because I’m doing what I love — research,” Isabel says. “I get the chance to work with different project teams and different groups. And this diversity of people, of different backgrounds, ages, nationalities and cultures has been really important and rewarding in my professional and personal life.”

Behavioural Scientist, Mandara Shetty, is one of the members of our Human and Consumer Behaviour team. Originally from India, she moved to London when she was eight years old and is now based in Southampton. Mandara returned to a permanent position after a year’s industrial placement in R&D.

She says: “I’m passionate about the work that I do now because I think it gives me a great balance between exploring the different curiosities I have, in terms of my scientific research questions, as well as delivering scientific findings and insights in a business-relevant way to inform Harm Reduction practices.”