Barbie launches doll bearing the likeness of the British developer of the Covid-19 vaccine

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

Toy maker Mattel Inc recognizes them with a line of “model” Barbie dolls.

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

Vaccinologist Sarah Gilbert with her own Barbie doll at the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford, UK. Credit: Andy Paradis / Shutterstock

“It’s a very strange concept to have a Barbie doll made in my image,” Gilbert said in an interview with Mattel.

“I hope this will help make it more normal for girls to think about careers in science.”

Among the winners are emergency room nurse Amy O’Sullivan who treated the first Covid-19 patient at Wycoff Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, and Audrey Cruz, a primary care physician in Las Vegas who fought discrimination, according to Mattel.

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

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

Gilbert chose the non-profit 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.