Blog posts

Dr Dasha Nicholls, Clinical Reader in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences

“Since COVID-19 struck, I have worked as hard as ever, clinically and academically, but now it’s from home. The first task was getting all our existing research up and running again…”

I moved to Imperial in May 2018 after 23 years at Great Ormond Street Hospital as a trainee, lecturer and then Consultant and Joint Head of the National Feeding and Eating Disorders Service. Now as a Clinical Reader in Child Psychiatry, I spend part of my working week in Central and North West London NHS Trust’s eating disorders service for children and young people and various advisory roles for the NHS, and the rest of my week on research.   (more…)

Andy Pritchard, Photographer and Videographer, Faculty of Medicine

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“Since COVID-19 began I’ve filmed, edited and distributed 40 videos about COVID-19 protection for frontline staff with Dr Iqbal Malik for the European Cardiology (ePCR) response to the pandemic – one video has over 100,000 YouTube views.” 

Following a BA, an MA (Video), and an MSc (Medical Illustration – Photography and Video), I started working at St Mary’s Hospital as a Medical Photographer in 1994, and subsequently filled several audio-visual roles until my current post as Photographer and Video Producer within the Faculty of Medicine.  (more…)

Anique Varleigh, Head of Examinations and Assessment, Business School

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“We have successfully moved 70 exams and 1,400 students from April to June into the digital exam world, ran numerous student training sessions, created demos and video for students and faculty.” 

I am the Head of Exams and Assessment at Imperial College Business School and Co-Chair of the Race Equality Charter‘s Self-Assessment Team. I joined the Business School in 2013 after leaving a similar role at a Royal Medical College where I worked for 14 years. Throughout my career, I have worked on process and procedure improvement projects such as moving examination applications online, to moving exams online here at Imperial. 

Before the pandemic, the Business School had been working on our biggest ‘bring your own device’ digital exam pilot using WISEflow. Myself and my colleague Emma Stoakes, our digital exam project lead, had been working on this big moment for the past 12 months… and then the pandemic hit!  (more…)

Samuel Phillips, Events Technical Manager, Catering Services

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“We have had to create new ways of replacing physical events with virtual ones. One example was to assist the Enterprise team with a high–profile pitch event that could no longer take place in person.” 

After finishing my Materials degree at the Royal School of Mines I (almost literally) fell into a role working for the Campus Services Events Department over the summer of 2006. The rest, as they say, is history. As the Events Technical Manager, I offer audio visual support to any College event and oversee a team of casual technicians that keep College events running. We are the sole producer of live streaming video content to Imperial’s YouTube channel, with over 130,000 subscribers worldwide.  (more…)

Professor Molly Stevens, Professor of Biomedical Materials and Regenerative Medicine, Departments of Materials and Bioengineering

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, my research group has continued to work with determination to support the development of game-changing technology to address the urgent need for reliable, cost-effective and fast COVID-19 diagnostic tests.”

I am Professor of Biomedical Materials and Regenerative Medicine in the Departments of Materials and Bioengineering. I lead a dynamic multidisciplinary research group that develops innovative materials-based approaches to tackle healthcare challenges including disease diagnostics. We have previously developed a lateral flow immunoassay for fast detection of HIV p24 biomarker with sensitivity in the low femtomolar range, and our Ebola serological test has been validated in Uganda with 91 survivors. Our work on smartphone enabled diagnostics capitalises on the ubiquity and technical capabilities of mobile phones and networks to bring advanced technology to the point-of-care, connect patients to health centres and monitor epidemics. (more…)

Dr Joseph Sherwood, RAEng Research Fellow, Department of Bioengineering

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“JAMVENT has successfully overcome both the technical challenges that have hindered many other emergency designs, and the supply chain bottlenecks that limit manufacturing capacity of established ventilators.”

I am a Bioengineer with a Mechanical Engineering background. I joined Imperial in 2012 and focus on blood flow and eye pressure, with applications in glaucoma and diabetes research. I also do consultancy work building custom pressure/flow systems.

One week before the lockdown, Dr Jakob Mathiszig-Lee, an anaesthesiologist working with COVID-19 patients at the Royal Brompton Hospital, emailed us looking for anyone interested in building a ventilator to help with potential shortfall. I offered to help, along with Professor James Moore, an expert in medical device design, and Dr Michael Madekurozwa, who I have been working with for five years. (more…)

Dr Eleonora D’Elia, Strategic Teaching Fellow – Outreach, Department of Materials

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“Having gained access to the spookily empty campus, I have been producing face visors: more than 3,000 to date. Together with Helpful Engineering UK, we have delivered more than 24,000 visors and are currently making gowns, masks and ear savers which are going to hospitals, care homes and GPs.”

I was born and raised in a small town near Rome, and I graduated in Materials Science and Physics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. I moved to London and joined Imperial in 2010 to complete my Masters in Biomaterials and then began my PhD in Smart Materials (such a cool subject, let me tell you!). I now work as a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Materials and am the Head of Outreach in the department. I teach undergraduate courses, deal with undergraduate labs and have been carrying out lots of public engagement activities for nearly 12 years now. (more…)

Rob Floyd, Director of the Central Biomedical Services Department

Celebrating our community COVID-19

“My heroes are those that are caring for the animals, the animal technicians who cannot work from home and must be at work to carry out their role every day of the week so that research at the College can continue. Their commitment and dedication is outstanding.” 

Before joining Imperial, I worked for a global pharmaceutical company and had the opportunity to travel and work in challenging roles. These included the management of animal research facilities, quality assurance and compliance, risk management and building projects, to name a few. (more…)

Dr Sabine van Elsland, External Relationships & Communications Manager, School of Public Health

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“It is humbling being part of Imperial’s COVID-19 response team. It is amazing to see the passion, talent, expertise and experience from colleagues coming together as a team delivering high profile work amidst a global crisis.”

I am an infectious disease epidemiologist and the External Relationships and Communications Manager at the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Jameel Institute (J-IDEA). It is a privilege being in a position to witness the world coming together from this up-close. We are grateful to receive support from major funders like the MRC and Community Jameel.

I studied health sciences in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (my home country) and Bandung, Indonesia. My MSc in infectious disease at the VU Amsterdam took me to Aurangabad, India and Cape Town South Africa. For 10 years, I was proud to call Cape Town my home, where I completed my PhD. It was almost two years ago that I joined the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and moved to London with my family. (more…)

Abigail Ackerman, Research Associate, Department of Materials

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“The wardening teams across all halls have reacted exceptionally to the crisis. My students are particularly upset that we no longer can do Sunday breakfasts!”

I came to Imperial five and a half years ago to start my PhD in the Department of Materials, and am now a Research Associate in Corrosion. In my first year here, I also started as a subwarden in Wilkinson Hall. Since then, I have become an Assistant Warden at Parson House and Pembridge Gardens, living onsite at Parsons House. Other than the Boathouse, Parson House is the smallest of all of the Imperial halls, with only 42 residents. This means that we create an incredibly tight knit community within the hall, by weekly Sunday breakfasts and other activities such as theatre trips and pizza nights. (more…)