Rate My Professor Rachel Ashworth

Professor Rachel Ashworth is Professor of Education in Physiology and Founding MBChB Phase 1 Lead at the Three Counties Medical School, University of Worcester, where she serves as Principal Lecturer in Biomedical Science. She earned a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences (Physiology) from the University of Birmingham in 1989, a PhD in Biochemistry and Physiology from the University of Reading in 1993, a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice from Queen Mary University of London in 2009, and an MA in Education for Clinical Contexts from Queen Mary University of London in 2019. Her research specializations encompass medical education, with a focus on integrating biomedical sciences into the medical curriculum and exploring the lived experiences of scientists teaching medicine through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Previously engaged in scientific research, she managed an independent laboratory funded by grants from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Medical Research Council.

Ashworth's career includes postdoctoral research in the United States, establishing a laboratory at University College London, and appointment as Lecturer in Physiology at Queen Mary University of London in 2006, where she later led Physiology at Barts and The Royal London School of Medicine. She taught physiology in dental, biomedical sciences, and medical programmes, authored over 26 peer-reviewed papers and two book chapters, supervised postgraduate and undergraduate projects, and presented at international conferences. A Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2015, she reviews for Advances in Physiology Education and holds memberships in The Physiological Society and the Association for the Study of Medical Education. Notable publications include 'Remember to breathe: teaching respiratory physiology in a clinical context using simulation' (Advances in Physiology Education, 2019, with Bintley and Bell), 'Integration of respiratory physiology and clinical reasoning in the early years of a medical curriculum: engaging with students in a large classroom setting' (Advances in Physiology Education, 2023, with Hakim, Ricketts, and Pfeffer), 'Role of Active Contraction and Tropomodulins in Regulating Actin Filament Length and Sarcomere Structure in Developing Zebrafish Skeletal Muscle' (Frontiers in Physiology, 2016), and 'Female and male gamete mitochondria are distinct and complementary in transcription, structure, and genome function' (Genome Biology and Evolution, 2013).