Our Authors

James Byrne is currently studying for his PhD in Microbiology at the University of Adelaide, Australia. James’ project centres on a potent virulence factor possessed by the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. He blogs about science at diseaseprone.fieldofscience.com

Smitha Mundasad is a medical doctor who has been itching to write about science since she donned her first pair of over-sized safety goggles many years ago. She has a BSc in International Health and a MA in Science Journalism. She is also a dedicated grower and eater of chilli plants.

Bryce Conduit is a PhD student in the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy in the University of Cambridge. His research is dedicated to finding suitable computational techniques to develop the compositions of new superalloys. He completed his undergraduate degrees at the University of Cambridge.

Dr Cathie Rae is a reader at the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy at Cambridge University, where she works on alloy development and understanding oxidation and coatings.

Barry Gibb is a freelance author with a background in neuroscience and virology

Jamil Bacha is a molecular biology PhD student at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge UK.

Dalya Rosner is a PhD student at Cambridge University

Kat Arney is a writer and member of the naked scientists radio programme. She is based at Cancer Research UK

Claire McLoughlin is from the press and publications department of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Dr Karen Smith is a neuroanatomist. She was the Business Director of the Cambridge Computational Biology Institute and is now the Director of Bioprocess Leadership, Biochemical Engineering, University College London.

Chris Smith (the other one) is a maths PhD student in the Dept. of Applied Mathematics at Strathclyde University. Chris is also the president of the Strathclyde University Christian Union, and plays the keyboard for a ceilidh band called "Jiggered".

Peter is Professor of pharmacology at Cambridge University and joined us to talk about how the body signals pain and how drugs that can combat pain, including cannabis, cocaine and aspirin, work. He also gives a brief overview of how new drugs are designed and developed, and how natural drugs, produced by plants, are discovered.