Elia Tutty is graduating with a degree in Pharmacy from Queen’s and leaves behind a lasting legacy both in the lab and on two wheels. 

Originally from Dungarvan in County Waterford, Elia moved to Belfast to study Pharmacy, drawn by Queen’s academic reputation and the hands-on nature of the degree programme.  

As she explains: 

“The School of Pharmacy offered a high standard of teaching but also offered lots of practical hands-on learning through experiential placements and interprofessional learning with other healthcare disciplines within the degree, which really appealed to me.” 

Arriving in a new city was daunting, but Elia quickly found support in two communities  – her academic tutors and Queen’s Sport: 

“The staff were incredibly supportive – my personal tutors encouraged me to keep cycling competitively alongside my degree, which meant a lot.” 

Elia was awarded a Sports Bursary from Queen’s in recognition of her high-level achievements in competitive road cycling – a sport she had first fallen in love with as a teenager on the roads and coastline of Dungarvan. With support from Queen’s Sport, she gained access to the high performance gym, tailored strength and conditioning coaching and a community of like-minded student athletes. 

Her sporting achievements are no small feat. Elia competed at Rás na mBan, Ireland’s premier international women’s cycling stage race, three years in a row during her degree. She won the green jersey as top Irish club rider in 2021 and helped secure the best Irish team performance on two occasions. 

But Elia didn’t stop there. In 2023, she initiated and led Queen’s University’s first-ever women’s cycling team, competing in the Student Sport Ireland National Varsity Cycling Championships in Dublin. Wearing Queen’s colours, the team won the National Women’s Varsity Team prize – a moment Elia describes as “a major achievement and a memory I’ll cherish forever.” 

Elia explains what drove this decision: 

“When I joined Queen’s, there wasn’t a clear path for women in competitive road cycling, so I took the initiative to change that. I believe championing women in sport is so important because visibility leads to opportunity. If young women can see others doing it, they know it’s possible.” 

In her final year, Elia also represented the School of Pharmacy at the All-Ireland Interprofessional Learning Challenge (AIPEC), working on cross-border collaboration projects with students from other healthcare disciplines – an experience she compares to sport as it required resilience and teamwork, qualities Elia has developed on and off the bike. 

Elia now plans to explore the many career paths within Pharmacy, while continuing to lead an active lifestyle and inspire others to do the same. 

She reflects: 

“Balancing cycling and my degree was tough, but it taught me discipline, dedication, and perseverance. Queen’s has helped me grow academically and personally – I’m so grateful for that.” 

 Elia’s journey shows that passion plus perseverance can lay the track for others, in this case – young women in sport. 

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