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A forensic science expert and leading voice in the campaign for safer knives has been nominated for a Women of the Year award.

Leisa Nichols-Drew, a lecturer at СʪÃÃÊÓƵ (СʪÃÃÊÓƵ) Leicester, has been researching the effectiveness of round-tipped knives in reducing knife crime and serious injury for more than six years, with her work widely recognised across the country and cited in Parliament.

She has now been shortlisted for the Women with Edge award, which celebrates women who have made a significant impact in their field, and is one of just three categories at the 2025 Women of the Year awards.

Now in its 43rd year, the Women of the Year Awards boast notable recipients, including Baroness Karen Brady CBE, writer and activist Katie Piper and Chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, Margaret Aspinall. 

Leisa will have an interview with the awards’ judging panel on Friday 5 September; where she will also meet with the other finalists, before the awards ceremony takes place at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Friday 10 October.

“I came back from leave and collected a parcel that I thought might have been a late birthday present,” Leisa said. “I opened it up to find a letter saying I’d been shortlisted as a finalist, which was a huge surprise. “It is so important to me to recognise the contribution of all the finalists and I look forward to saying congratulations to them too.”

“I feel honoured to be included. I’ve looked back at some of the previous winners and the amazing work they’ve done, so just to be recognised as a finalist is an achievement in itself.

“It’s really nice for women to recognise other women in this way. Whoever wins in the end will be a very worthy recipient. I hope to build on this to continue to support others.”

Leisa worked as a forensic practitioner at the Home Office before joining СʪÃÃÊÓƵ in 2016.

Working with academics from Leicester University, Northumbria University and Teesside University, she has led two key studies into the effectiveness of round-tipped knives.

Her first study, published in 2020, compared the impact that tipped and rounded knives had on everyday clothes, including cotton t-shirts and denim jeans, after 300 repeated stabbing motions. It found that the range of round-tipped knives didn’t penetrate the fabrics, while the sharp-pointed knives did.

The second study supported her previous work by looking at the damage caused to body tissue, represented by a special forensic simulant material, beneath everyday clothes. Although the results have not been made public yet, the preliminary findings show a clear connection between the shape of the tip of a blade and the resulting damage.

Data from the Office for National Statistics show that kitchen knives are the most common type of weapon used in homicides in the UK.

Last year, Leisa teamed up with Leanne Lucas, a survivor of the tragic Southport Stabbings in which three children lost their lives, to endorse her Let’s Be Blunt campaign, which calls for the widespread adoption of rounded-tip kitchen knives.

Royal Marine Colour Sergeant Mike Beaton MBE came out in support of Leisa’s work and demonstrated that rounded-tipped kitchen knives were just as effective at preparing food as traditional kitchen knives but safer.

Leisa said: “We’ve reached a point where people want change. More retailers are starting to stock safer alternatives, and the Home Office is now in active discussions with manufacturers.”

Leisa’s work has also been instrumental in shaping Kent Police’s knife exchange programme.

The force announced that it would exchange pointed-tip kitchen knives for rounded-tip knives to vulnerable families and those who have been arrested for a weapon-related offence, or if they've come to the attention of the police.

Since its introduction last year, knife crime across Kent has dropped by 17 per cent.

Leisa said: “Working in collaboration with Caley Walden at Kent and Medway Police, Leanne and Kate O’Neill at cutlery manufacturer Viners, along with other experts within the ‘Safer Knives Group’, we’ve formed a really empowering, strong community that supports one another.

“They definitely inspire me to keep going with this work, and together we are stronger.

“Such a simple change will really make a huge difference and it will impact everyone in society. Fundamentally, it will make kitchens safer and that will ultimately make society safer.”