header
                        banner
My City, Lifestyle, Fashion

Barbie debuts doll in likeness of British COVID-19 vaccine developer

British coronavirus vaccine developer Sarah Gilbert has many science accolades to her credit but now shares an honor...
By Reuters

LONDON


British coronavirus vaccine developer Sarah Gilbert has many science accolades to her credit but now shares an honor with Beyonce, Marilyn Monroe and Eleanor Roosevelt: a Barbie doll in her likeness.


Gilbert, a 59-year-old professor at Oxford University and co-developer of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, is one of six women in the COVID-19 fight who have new Barbies modeled after them.


Related story

Barbie joins prestigious ranks of fashion council honorees


Toy maker Mattel Inc (MAT.O) is recognizing them with a line of Barbie "role model" dolls.


Gilbert's Barbie shares her long auburn hair and oversized black glasses, and she wears a sensible navy blue pantsuit and white blouse.


"It's a very strange concept having a Barbie doll created in my likeness," Gilbert said in an interview for Mattel.


"I hope it will be part of making it more normal for girls to think about careers in science."


Among the honorees are emergency room nurse Amy O'Sullivan who treated the first COVID-19 patient at the Wycoff Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, and Audrey Cruz, frontline doctor in Las Vegas who fought discrimination, according to Mattel.


Other dolls include Chika Stacy Oriuwa, a Canadian psychiatry resident at the University of Toronto who battled systemic racism in healthcare, and Brazilian biomedical researcher Jaqueline Goes de Jesus, who led sequencing of the genome of a COVID-19 variant in Brazil, the company said.


Lastly a doll honors Kirby White, an Australian doctor who pioneered a surgical gown that can be washed and reused by frontline workers during the pandemic.


Gilbert chose nonprofit organization WISE (Women in Science & Engineering), dedicated to inspiring girls to consider a career in STEM, to receive a financial donation from the toy maker.

Related Stories
Lifestyle

Global retailers cash in on Barbie movie craze

1 min read
My City

Barbie’s friend Ken celebrates a milestone birthda...

1 min read
My City

Ryan Gosling has transformed into new look for ‘Ba...

1 min read
WORLD

Oxford COVID-19 vaccine developer cautious on 2020...

1 min read
WORLD

India vaccine developer warns some to avoid shot

1 min read