Brunel University

Faculty Member, Centre for Biomedicine & Society (CBAS), Department of Sociology and Communications

Professor of Sociology and Politics of Bioscience

About

I joined Brunel University London in September 2011 as Professor of Sociology and Politics of Bioscience. Previously I was Reader in Medicine, Science & Society at King’s College London, where I continue to hold an honorary Senior Research Fellowship at the Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, St Thomas’ Hospital.

My main research interest lies at the interface of science, politics, and society.  In particular I look at the ways in which science, religion and politics mutually constitute each other, and what effect this process has on how we understand ourselves as human beings, persons, and citizens, as well as on the emergence of regulatory approaches.

The main field where I explore these questions is DNA testing, both in medical and forensic contexts. I have carried out research on genetic carrier testing, and on identical twinship, and – in a related field – on embryonic stem cell research and human reproductive cloning. In the realm of forensics I have worked on the impact of forensic DNA technologies on attitudes and strategies of prisoners; the societal and regulatory dimensions of forensic bioinformation exchange (eg Prüm Treaty) in Europe, and – together with Richard Hindmarsh at Griffith University, Nathan, Australia – edited a book on the governance of forensic DNA databases (Genetic Suspects, Cambridge University Press, 2010). A new book, co-authored with Helena Machado (at the University of Minho, Portugal) on prisoners’ views on crime scene technologies in the era of CSI will be published in 2012 (Ashgate).

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