biog | experience
Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net) — London
Managing the Op-Ed section of the website: commissioning and editing opinion and analysis from scientists, policymakers and journalists; overseeing practical guides; writing articles and producing multimedia features. I introduced and now oversee SciDev.Net’s analysis blogs — short pieces offering insight on the implications of headline news for poverty, gender, migration, disability and the private sector. The role also involves forging relationships with partners and regular contact with experts in their field through correspondence or conferences.
A key responsibility is to produce collections of articles (Spotlights) that offer an in-depth view of various topics at the intersection of science and development such as grassroots innovation, food security and urban sustainability. This involves selecting the topic, developing the concept (often working closely with a consultant), commissioning experts to write opinion and ‘facts and figures’ articles, producing or commissioning multimedia features, editing these contributions and pulling together the material for publication.
Emerging Health Threats Forum — London, 2007-2010
In the role of news editor, oversaw the Forum’s daily service and reported on research developments to inform scientists and policy makers about new/changing health risks and emergency preparedness. Managed news service during the ‘swine flu’ pandemic. As reviews editor for the peer-reviewed, open-access journal Emerging Health Threats, commissioned and managed articles on issues ranging from the flu pandemic to perceptions of nanotechnology risk to emerging diseases in Africa. Click here for news stories.
BioMed Central, Sees-Editing Ltd. — London, 2006-2007
Managed the peer review process for open-access public health and medical journals, with responsibility for editorial decisions. Edited scientific papers on a freelance basis, making language corrections and improving readability.
EU Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment & Sustainability — Ispra, 2005
Described population vulnerability to ambient air pollution exposure building on the Institute’s work on health and air quality. Click here for publications.
Stockholm Environment Institute, Poverty and Vulnerability Programme — Stockholm, 2004
As an independent consultant, produced a report to describe connections between health and environmental vulnerability in the context of urban poverty. The work gives an integrative view of children’s vulnerability using the risk framework to bring together research on children’s development, global environmental changes, the risk transition and water-related risks in urban developing regions. It converged on a discussion of interactions between processes of child development and poverty as contributors to vulnerability, considering linkages with global change.
George Washington University, Center for Risk Science and Public Health — Washington, DC, 2000-2004
Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, under a U.S. EPA-funded co-operative agreement with a mandate to advance risk assessment methods for water quality, helped to characterise the susceptibility of special populations to microbes and chemicals in drinking water. Developed a model that evaluates the risk of waterbourne cryptosporidiosis in New York City by taking into account susceptible people with HIV/AIDS and using epidemiological estimates of the illness in the region. Synthesized evidence on developmental changes with respect to children’s sensitivity to chemicals — along the lines of a recent WHO publication, ‘Principles for Evaluating Health Risks in Children Associated with Exposure to Chemicals’. Click here for articles and reports from this project.
Clark University, Environmental Science & Policy department — Worcester, MA, 1997-1999
Researched social aspects of Poland’s health and safety system and used biological data to model inter-individual variation in people’s responses to environmental exposures. Work on susceptibility modelling of noise-induced hearing loss among construction workers informed the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s proposed regulations on noise exposure.