President: Ellie Blake
Ellie is a PhD student in the Department of Genetics and a member of Jesus College, whose PhD research focuses on the mechanisms protecting the genome in reproductive cells. This is her third year on the CUSPE committee, during which she is looking forward to further developing the opportunities CUSPE provides for researchers to engage with policy. Until December 2022, Ellie is working as a Postgraduate Fellow at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), where she is producing a POSTnote on urban outdoor air quality. She also took part in the 2020 round of CUSPE Policy Challenges, researching the types of support required by formerly looked-after young people to make a successful transition to independence in adulthood.
Vice President: Andrew Smith
Andrew is a PhD student in the Department of Veterinary Medicine and a member of Christ’s College. His research focusses on studying gene expression changes in a Drosophila model of prion disease, a type of neurodegenerative disease. Prior to his PhD, he studied Natural Sciences for his undergraduate degree at Cambridge. His involvement with CUSPE started when he was involved in outlining a strategic business case for a Cambridgeshire Decarbonisation Fund, as part of the 2021 CUSPE Policy Challenges, before becoming the Policy Challenges Coordinator for the 2022 Challenges.
Treasurer: Ella Jennings
Ella is a PhD student in the Resource Efficiency Collective, a group in the Department of Engineering. She is analysing chains of energy conversions across the global system and assessing their resilience in a decarbonising world to maximise national and personal energy security. Previously, Ella completed a BSc in Astrophysics and Geophysics at University College London and an MPhil in Energy Technologies at the University of Cambridge with theses on Equatorial Plasma Bubbles in the ionosphere and the efficiency of energy conversion chains respectively. Most recently she worked as a researcher on the international project C-THRU, investigating the decarbonisation of the global petrochemicals sector. This is Ella’s first year on the CUSPE committee and looks forward to being a part of the team.
Secretary: Mary Chriselda Antony Oliver
Mary Chriselda is a first year HDR UK Turing PhD student working across the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) and the Department of Public Health and Primary Care (PHPC) and a member of St. Edmund’s College. In her foundation year, she is investigating the optimisation techniques, particularly optimal transport for blood counts data. Prior to her PhD, she completed her MSc Mathematics at the University of Leeds with a research internship at the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Biology. Following which she joined the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford to investigate the cost-effectiveness of surveillance for elimination of lymphatic filariasis in low-income countries. Mary Chriselda joined the CUSPE in October 2022 as the Secretary with the intention to provide support to the objectives of CUSPE and to look forward to proposing ideas that would help tackle policy challenges, particularly those relevant to the health care sector and to foster better opportunities to engage and implement ideas by networking with policy experts.
Policy & Challenges
Policy Challenges Lead: Clarissa Salmon
Clarissa is a third-year student at the University of Cambridge, studying for an English BA. Her area of research interest is climate change, in relation to engagement, policy and knowledge exchange. She is currently writing a dissertation on the how climate change literature blurs the boundary between non-fiction and fiction through the insertion of the authorial, personal, and lyrical. She wants to expand this thesis in the specific direction of climate displacement.
Finance & Fundraising
Finance & Fundraising Lead: Khalid Guma’a
Khalid is a third-year Medical Student at Peterhouse, intercalating in Biochemistry. He spent the summer on an LXR alpha mutagenesis project at the Institute of Metabolic Science to explore a potential link to obesity and metabolic disease. He is particularly interested in how scientific research can be used to tackle public health issues through policy changes.
Finance & Fundraising Lead: Jack Lynch
Jack is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Engineering and is a member of Peterhouse. He completed his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and worked in carbon capture and storage for a year with Climeworks before coming to Cambridge to start his PhD. Jack’s research interest is in how we can reduce future energy consumption to meet our climate goals. Specifically, his work focuses on building energy consumption and opportunities to reduce it through sensing and smart buildings.
Forum
Forum Lead: Harry Dunn
Harry is a fourth-year medical student at Churchill College with an interest in evidence-based healthcare policy. He has completed several research projects in computational neuroscience, most notably investigating how myelination patterns in the cerebral cortex change during adolescence. Harry is looking forward to running a salient and wide-ranging science and policy forum this year. Outside of medicine, he is a keen tennis player.
Forum Team: Lizzie Knight
Lizzie is a PhD student in the Department of Earth Sciences, studying active tectonics. Her work focuses on how earthquakes contribute to mountain-building processes, and how to improve seismic hazard assessment in mountainous regions. Lizzie is interested in climate policy and decarbonisation: she took part in the 2021 round of the CUSPE Policy Challenges and has completed an internship in Parliament, producing a briefing on decarbonisation of the steel industry. Lizzie is also passionate about science communication and has previously written and edited for Cambridge’s BlueSci magazine.
Ariadna Albajara Saenz
Ariadna is a Wiener-Anspach Postdoctoral Fellow based in the Department of Psychiatry and a member of the Child and Adolescent Resilience and Mental Health Team led by Professor Tamsin Ford. Ariadna is currently exploring the long-term impact of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management training, a programme aiming to strengthen teacher classroom management strategies to improve children’s mental health. Ariadna hopes her research findings can be translated into evidence-based educational practices and policies that contribute to improving children’s mental health.
Lectures
Lectures Lead: Jamie Robertson
Jamie is a fourth-year undergraduate at Trinity Hall doing a Masters in History and Philosophy of Science. Jamie has a particular interest in the implementation of ethical frameworks within the sciences, especially regarding artificial intelligence and biomedical research. He is currently conducting a research project into realism and the relation between democratic values and scientific research. He is looking forward to offering a range of lectures this year that highlight the diversity of research and implementation of evidence-based policy across the sciences.
Lectures Team: Vivian Zhao
Vivian is an MPhil student in the Population Health Sciences program. She completed her undergraduate studies in Cell & Molecular Biology at Barnard College of Columbia University, where she wrote her thesis delineating the neural circuitry involved in spatial memory encoding. With interests in addressing structural limitations to effective mental health interventions and improving scientific communication, she is excited to serve as an art editor for CJSP as well as develop engaging, timely lectures with the CUSPE team.
Marketing
Marketing Lead: Bocheng Xiao
Bocheng is a third-year undergraduate student studying Biochemistry. His subject area has furthered his interest in science policy and especially health policy, although he is keen to learn about all aspects of science policy from energy to editing genomes. He is returning for his second year on the committee as marketing lead after being part of the marketing team last year and looks forward to another year helping to promote the importance of science policy among the greatly talented community at this University.
Marketing Team: Bethan Powell
Bethan is a second-year undergraduate studying Natural Sciences at St Catherine’s College. She is particularly interested in public health and the power of preventative care; and believes clear and accessible communication between policymakers and the public is critical, ensuring all stakeholders are reached and have the ability to take appropriate action.
Marketing Team: Genevieve Marsh
Genevieve is currently studying an MPhil in Public Policy and is from Sydney, Australia. Prior to Cambridge, she worked at the Department of Education for the New South Wales State Government. In this role she worked on the Skills & Higher Education COVID-19 Taskforce and in strategy for School Infrastructure. She has also worked as a consultant in a boutique management consulting firm. In this capacity she worked on projects across a range of industries including financial services, wealth management, media, and health sciences, many of which were ASX 200 listed organisations. Genevieve graduated with Honours in International and Global Studies at Sydney University, majoring in Government & International Relations. Genevieve is particularly passionate about education as a way to address broader policy issues. It is her goal to improve access to high quality education and skills.
Workshops
Workshops Lead: Hayoung Choi
Hayoung is a second-year undergraduate at Peterhouse who studies natural sciences, taking biochemistry, plant science, and history and philosophy of science this academic year. Hayoung aims to specialise in biochemistry and learn fundamental principles and techniques of synthetic biology. They are keen for science communication to share exciting facts they learn in their degree, and often submit articles for university science magazine and particpate in science demonstrations. Through CUSPE workshops, Hayoung wishes to facilitate public discourses on social issues which they think are necessary to properly tackle them.
Workshops Team: Bridget Eburne
Bridget is a second-year undergraduate student studying Biological Natural Sciences at St Catharine’s College. She has an interest in physiology and neurobiology as well as in history and philosophy of science and is considering a career in science communication and policy. Bridget would like to bring a new perspective to CUSPE, creating even better opportunities for younger students to find out what scientific policy is all about and to create a stronger relationship within the University community between undergraduates and postgraduates with shared interests.
Workshops Team: Chidinma Akaniro
Chidinma is an MPhil Public Policy Candidate and a member of Darwin College at Cambridge University. Her research is focused on International Trade. She is a member of the CUPSE workshop team and the peer review team. Prior to her MPhil, she worked as a Commercial Specialist with the U.S. Mission to Nigeria, supporting U.S. companies with export assistance and business development opportunities across several sectors. She holds an MBA from the Lagos Business School, Nigeria, and a B.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Chidinma is also a Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP), Project Management Professional (PMP), and Safe Scrum Master (SSM).
Cambridge Journal of Science and Policy
Chief Editor: Georgia Turner
Georgia is a PhD student at the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, studying the link between social media use and mental health. Previously, she completed Brain and Mind Sciences MSc at UCL, and before that, Natural Sciences & Philosophy BA at Cambridge. She is looking forward to being Chief Editor of the Cambridge Journal of Science and Policy this year, and hoping to encourage submissions about all areas of science and policy, from writers with any level of experience (including none) across all career stages.
Managing Editor: Kate Howlett
Kate is a PhD student in zoology, based in the University Museum of Zoology and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. Her research focuses on green space in UK primary schools, investigating their potential for improving children’s wellbeing and connection to nature, as well as their potential for biodiversity conservation. She has previously completed an undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Human Evolution & Behaviour at UCL. Kate has worked as a Postgraduate Fellow at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, where she produced a POSTnote on environmental housing standards. She led the Journal Team for Volume 3 of CJSP.
Journal Team Editor: Lukas Gunschera
Lukas is a research assistant and incoming PhD student at the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, studying digital media and mental health. Before coming to Cambridge, he obtained an MSc in Psychological research from the University of Amsterdam and a BSc in Psychology from the Radboud University. Lukas is passionate about innovative, open, high-quality research, and was a Psychology Honours and Interdisciplinary Honours scholar in the Netherlands.
Journal Team Editor: Argyris Zardilis
Argyris is a post-doctoral research associate at the Sainsbury Laboratory studying the development of plant organs through a biophysical modelling lens. He has a background in computer science and has worked both in industry and for organisations like CERN. Argyris is interested in the origin and transformation of the institutions (in the wider sense) of a society and more practically in the role of scientists in those processes. This has led him to his second involvement with CUSPE as an editor this time and he hopes through the journal to engage the scientific community in Cambridge and beyond in policy questions.
Journal Team Editor: Maria Ikonomova
Maria is a PhD student who is part of the Engineering for Sustainable Development Group and the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment (FIBE2 CDT). Maria’s PhD research explores how cities manage physical infrastructure systems to protect public health from climate-related hazards. Maria is working with several UK and international cities as part of her research project, and the end goal of the research is to inform future policy and best practice on how to develop preventive infrastructure responses to protect public health in a changing climate.
Journal Team Editor: Grace Leung
Grace is a PhD student in the Department of Psychiatry, where she also earned her MPhil degree. Grace’s research explores ways of optimising the efficacy of gamified virtual reality biofeedback interventions for the treatment of anxiety and stress. She has a particular interest in the children population and hopes to understand how clinicians could best utilise serious games to empower children in improving mental health symptoms. As a mental health advocate, she believes that gamified interventions have great potential in helping individuals overcome the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illnesses. She is a scholar at the Cambridge Trust, as well as the Croucher Foundation.
Journal Team Editor: Nicolas Schneider
Nicolas is a PhD doctoral student in the Department of Earth & Environment at Boston University (BU), Massachusetts, United States. A native of France, he holds a BA in Economics from Grenoble-Alps University (France); a MSc in Development Economics & Applied Econometrics from Paris Sorbonne University (France); and a MSc in Environmental Economics & Climate Change from the London School of Economics & Political Science (UK), with a major in resource extraction modelling, energy economics and environmental policy. As part of his doctoral research, Nicolas combines climate econometrics tools with Computable General Equilibrium frameworks to estimate, model and project crop yield sensitivities to future climate change impacts taking into account regional heterogeneities and irrigation intensities. Nicolas is also co-chair of the Workshops and Panels Working Group of the BU Science Policy Group and was recently appointed Teaching Fellow in the Dept. of General Education at Harvard University (Cambridge, US).
Journal Team Editor: Aiwei Zeng
Aiwei is a final-year PhD student at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Her PhD is focused on studying the molecular biology of mammalian circadian rhythms. Prior to this, she completed a MSci in Cell Biology at University College London. She is interested in science and health policy and was a Policy Fellow at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology in 2022, where she produced two POSTnotes on inclusion in elite sports.
Journal Team Copy Editor: Katharine Davis
Katy is in the fourth-year of her PhD in the Biochemistry department, focussing on understanding the role of enzymes in assembling the plant cell wall. She previously played a part in organising a science policy summit and action programme (Shaping Horizons), which has led to her interest in the role of policy in bridging the gap between academic research in the lab and real-world implementation. She is also a painter outside of the lab and is keen to find ways of using art to represent science research.
Journal Team Copy Editor: Christopher Cheng
Christopher (he/him) is a final-year medical student with a special interest in neuroscience, psychiatry, global health and medical education. He cares about promoting cross-cultural accessibility in science, combating mental health stigma and finding compassionate, effective and sustainable solutions to scientific misinformation. He is a Prince Philip Scholar, as well as a Scholar at the Health Leadership Academy. Outside of medicine, Christopher is an active musician in jazz, rock-pop and classical scenes, and a keen cook.
Journal Team Copy Editor: Kishan Sisodiya
Kishan is a third-year undergraduate student in Natural Sciences, specialising in genetics. His key interests include epigenetics, genome evolution and computational genomics. Kishan is particularly interested in the overlap between genetics and society, and the implementation of relevant policy.
Journal Team Copy Editor: Macy Liu
Macy is a second-year Medicine undergrad at Gonville and Caius College. She did a summer internship writing an article on CTE and sports policies. This has sparked her interest to translate scientific discoveries to real-life policies that benefit people’s lives. She also enjoys painting in her spare time.
Additional Editors:
Merissa Hickman, Emilie De Montpellier, Blanca Piera Pi-Sunyer, and Kirsten Thomas
Journal Art Editor: Lia Bote
Lia is a first-year PhD student at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, currently doing a ten-week rotation with Mara Lawniczak’s lab on screening Plasmodium falciparum samples from Ugandan mosquito extracts for antimalarial drug resistance. Prior to this, she completed her BSc in Cell Biology at UCL, where she explored a novel antibiotic combination for treating multidrug resistant E. coli. She hopes to address questions of public health and infectious disease at the intersection between science and society.
Journal Art Editor: Vivian Zhao
Vivian is an MPhil student in the Population Health Sciences program. She completed her undergraduate studies in Cell & Molecular Biology at Barnard College of Columbia University, where she wrote her thesis delineating the neural circuitry involved in spatial memory encoding. With interests in addressing structural limitations to effective mental health interventions and improving scientific communication, she is excited to serve as an art editor for CJSP as well as develop engaging, timely lectures with the CUSPE team.
Web Team
Webmaster: Shannon Bohle
Shannon is an alumna of the University of Cambridge and is a member of St Edmund’s College where she studied for a PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science as a Cambridge Trusts Scholar. She also holds two master’s degrees: a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Kent State University and a Master of Arts degree in Science Writing from Johns Hopkins University.
