I’m a newly appointed lecturer in applied optics (physics) at the School of Physical Sciences at the University of Kent. In my research I develop ways of using light in biology and medicine, to help us understand, diagnose and treat disease. I’ll be using this blog to keep anyone who is interested updated on my work, and the work of the research team that I will be building over the next few years. This isn’t aimed exclusively at academics, everything should be understandable regardless of your background, but if anything isn’t clear or you want to know more, please get in touch. I also occasionally write a blog on biophotonics, where I discuss some of the latest developments in the field, you can read that here.
Before moving to Kent I was a postdoc for five years at Imperial College London. I worked in a multi-disciplinary group called the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery. It meant that I was rubbing shoulders with engineers, computer scientists, chemists and clinicians, as well as the odd physicist. Working there taught me one thing above all else – that the problems of the real world don’t respect academic boundaries. If we want to try to solve some of them then we need to pool our expertise and resources and – the hardest part – try to understand each other’s language and culture. So, with that in mind, I’m always keen to meet people outside of optics and physics, whether you be a biologist, a medical professional, a patient or anyone else who might be interested, to talk about what it is that I do, what it is that you, and how we might be able to work together.