Rebecca Day has been awarded a prestigious Drapers’ Company Silver Medal for her groundbreaking research on bilingualism in Rett Syndrome.

The Drapers’ Company, one of the historic Livery Companies of the City of London, has had strong links to Bangor University for more than a century and as well as funding projects and PhD studentships, they also award a Silver and a Bronze Medal each year to outstanding research students at the university.

The awards are highly prestigious, taking into account the quality of a student’s research, their teaching contributions, and their service to the university and the wider community.

A Higher Education Officer at Coleg Llandrillo, Rebecca received the Silver Medal for her groundbreaking PhD research within the School of Arts, Culture and Language at Bangor University. Her work focuses on bilingualism in Rett syndrome, a rare genetic neurological disorder.

As part of her research, Rebecca has undertaken outreach through charity work with RettUK, collaborated with the Learned Society, worked with Senedd Cymru and engaged with the media and public to raise awareness and create positive impact for people with Rett syndrome and other developmental conditions.

Rebecca said: “It was an honour to receive the Drapers’ Silver Medal for my research and I am so grateful to all of the people who have made this research possible. I am also grateful to Grŵp Llandrillo Menai for providing me with support and a good work-life balance, which allow me to continue my research alongside my role here.”

The impact of Rebecca’s work was echoed by her Bangor University supervisor, Dr Eirini Sanoudaki, who noted that in 15 years, she had never seen a postgraduate researcher make such an “outstanding contribution” through both impactful research and community service.

Medals were presented by Master Draper Patrick Beddows, who praised the “impressive” work of this year’s recipients.