Dame Sarah Gilbert and Baroness Floella Benjamin receive prestigious honorary fellowships for their contributions to dentistry

Dame Sarah, a Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, co-created the Oxford–AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. It has widely been credited with saving countless lives in the UK and around the world. By January 2022, a year after the vaccine was first administered, 50 million AstraZeneca vaccines had been given in the UK, and around 2.5 billion doses had been distributed to more than 170 countries.

Baroness Floella Benjamin became well known for her role as a much-loved children’s television presenter, most notably on Play School. In 1987 Baroness Benjamin founded her own television production company and produced hundreds of children’s programmes, several of which have received nominations and awards. Since 1973, Baroness Benjamin has been campaigning for diversity both in front of, and behind, the camera. She advises the BBC on its diversity policies and sits in the House of Lords, where she passionately promotes children’s welfare.