For the latest updates from your alumni community
University of Bristol law graduate James Alexandroff (LLB 1979) has focused his energy and professional experience in creating a model of philanthropy that is sustainable and effective. We spoke to this year’s Alumni Award winner for Transformative Philanthropy about his personal journey and his approach to philanthropy. (more…)
The UK’s first female professor of meteorology, Professor Dame Julia Slingo OBE (BSc 1973, PhD 1989, Hon DSc 2010) broke the glass ceiling in the world of climate science and paved the way for more women to enter careers in scientific research. This year she is the recipient of the 2022 Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement. We spoke to her about her time at Bristol, her impressive career as a climate scientist, the gender gap in research and the future of science for a fairer planet. (more…)
Three outstanding international academics are joining the University of Bristol after being awarded the prestigious Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship. One of them is the renowned geoscientist Professor Aradhna Tripati from the University of California (UCLA). Aradhna is passionate about fostering diverse voices in sciences and is the founder of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science at UCLA. We talked to her about her journey into geoscience, diversity and inclusion in the field and her main research priorities during her time at Bristol. (more…)
Three outstanding international academics will join the University of Bristol this year after being awarded the prestigious Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship. These fellowships enable exceptional international researchers to undertake a flexible 12-month period of sabbatical leave to join a UK university, to foster international collaboration and enrich scientific research. (more…)
The University of Bristol is celebrating an incredible £2 million gift from alumnus David Hughes (BSc 1974). This gift will create two new positions at the University: a Chair of Geographical Sciences to support environmental research and a Chair of Digital Chemistry. (more…)
My work focuses on two primary areas: the mental health challenges faced by university students, and the outcomes of innovative mental health policies at the University of Bristol. In 2018, for example, the University launched an ‘opt-in policy’ which invites all students to give consent to the University to get in touch with an emergency contact if there is a serious concern about their welfare. The policy is the first of its kind in the UK and is designed to widen the circle of support for Bristol students. I work with students and staff to understand better how novel policies like this are interpreted and implemented. Approximately 95% of our students opt in, which is amazing, and we are working to understand who the remaining 5% are; without allowing us to reach out to a named emergency contact, they might be at higher risk. (more…)
My research explores what climate change means for extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, and how they impact human health. If we can understand the adverse impacts of a changing climate then we can make plans to avoid devastating outcomes, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting our society. (more…)
As a Clinical Lecturer in Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, much of my clinical and research work is carried out in the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we weren’t sure how the disease would impact the young children and infants in our care.
Babies are very vulnerable to other respiratory viruses, such as the flu and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), so initially we thought that they may also be susceptible to severe COVID-19. It soon became apparent, however, that the four babies at our hospital who had tested positive for coronavirus were only mildly affected by the disease, with all of them recovering after just a few days. (more…)
I’ve always found cell biology fascinating: the way that cells work, how they build us as human beings and how they can cause disease. It’s what drew me to studying cancer. By learning about what goes wrong in cancer cells, we also learn a lot about normal cells and how they should function.
Bowel cancer has one of the highest mortality rates of any cancer, because it’s often detected at quite a late stage. Researchers have established that taking aspirin for long periods of time decreases your risk of developing bowel cancer. But what we don’t know is exactly why that is. Throughout my PhD, my research group and I have been exploring how aspirin influences cellular functions to make cells less likely to become cancerous and to slow the progression of a cancer. (more…)
As leaders from all over the world come together in Glasgow at the end of this month for COP26, the Cabot Institute for the Environment asks key environmentalists, what do we need to see happen at COP26 that we haven’t seen before? (more…)