Posts Tagged ‘coventry university’

tim mason

June 24th, 2010

Sonochemistry is concerned with understanding the effect of sonic waves and wave properties on chemical systems.

Professor Tim Mason is Director of the Sonochemistry Centre at Coventry University. It’s his contention that over-specialism  is wasteful. What excites him about his research team is that there are researchers from many disciplines — biology, chemistry, environmental science, food technology, material science and pharmacology. Sonochemistry, in his view, provides an ideal model for linking scientific disciplines to expand our knowledge. (He is also a keen fisherman . . . )

Professor Mason is President of the European Society of Sonochemistry and is the Editor in Chief of the journal Ultrasonics Sonochemistry. His research interests in sonochemistry cover environmental protection, materials processing, food processing, electrochemistry and therapeutic ultrasound.

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Posted in People, The Ways of Science, Thinking differently | No Comments »

helen maddock

June 21st, 2010

There are many perspectives on the relationship between blue skies research and its application, perhaps none more important than the potential of what’s known as ‘translational medicine’.

Dr Helen Maddock‘s work is in this important ‘translation’ — and crosses disciplinary boundaries. For example, she’s currently investigating drug-related cardiovascular complications with biomechanical, quantitative pharmacological and biomedical techniques, and collaborating with cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons to study how a heart attack results in injury or death of the heart muscle.

Dr Helen Maddock is Principal Lecturer in Cardiovascular Physiology and Pharmacology at Coventry University, and is Editor of the British Society for Cardiovascular Research Journal Bulletin. She’s worked for AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline as well as undertaking research at UCL’s Hatter Institute and Centre for Cardiology. Her current research includes investigating the role of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial injury and apoptosis in myocardial stress, and also the development of novel therapies for the treatment of diseases related to the cardiovascular system.

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Posted in People, The Ways of Science, Working together | No Comments »

david french

June 19th, 2010

We will continue the trend of living longer, healthier lives. Unlike earlier generations, the majority of deaths now are brought about by chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.

The causes of these chronic diseases, says Professor David French, are largely owing to behavioural factors. The major improvements in public health will therefore, he argues, be by changes in lifestyle behaviours.

David French is Professor of Health Psychology in the School of Health and Life Sciences at Coventry University. His major research areas are in the development and evaluation of interventions to change health-related behaviours, especially walking. He’s also interested in the communication of risk, especially the cognitive, emotional and behavioural effects of screening programmes.

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Posted in Changing behaviour, People, Transformations | No Comments »

hazel barrett

June 19th, 2010

HIV/AIDS is the most serious pandemic humankind has ever faced. In some communities, particularly in the developing world, its impact has been devastating. The search for a cure or a vaccine has been a twenty-five year roller-coaster of optimism followed by despair.

It’s unlikely, too, that this search will bear fruit for the millions already infected. However, it is in the realm of social scientists that the much hope rests. For in understanding how humans can change behaviour, we have a chance of controlling the spread of this devastating illness — although education and behavioural change are not easy options.

Professor Hazel Barrett is one such social scientist. Head of Department at Coventry University’s Department of Geography, Environment and Disaster Management, her research interests are in health and poverty in the developing world, including HIV/AIDS and children in sub-Saharan Africa.

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sue charlesworth

June 15th, 2010

Dr Sue Charlesworth proposes  a simple but radical transformation of the urban scene. The incorporation of sustainable drainage (SUDS) into the cityscape could provide a flexible and efficient means of mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Dr Charlesworth is Reader in Urban Geography at Coventry University. She began her career as a Medical Laboratory Technician, then took at OU degree followed by a PhD investigating the sediments collecting in urban lakes and rivers.This began her research interest in sustainable drainage (SUDS), an applied multidisciplinary area of work involving engineers, town planners, social scientists, ecologists and pure scientists.

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Posted in Living in the natural world, People, The Macrocosm | No Comments »