https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.111.8

We’re excited to introduce the new members of the Editorial Board, and welcome back long-serving ones. Members join us from around the world, bringing expertise across physiology, including research, education, clinical and industry backgrounds.

Peter Aldiss, University of Nottingham

I am a British Heart Foundation funded PhD student at the University of Nottingham. Having completed my undergraduate in Exercise, Nutrition and Health at Nottingham Trent University, my research is now focussed on the role of diet, exercise and the environment in regulating brown adipose tissue metabolism. I am a member of The Physiological Society’s Affiliate Working Group and the European Young Endocrine Scientists (EYES) committee where I hope to help advance opportunities for early career scientists. It is in this capacity that I joined the Physiology News Editorial Board where I represent early career researchers to ensure our voice is heard and our thoughts are expressed going forward.

Ronan M. G. Berg, University Hospital Rigshospitalet

I am an MD (2009) with a PhD in medicine (2014), and have been a member of The Physiological Society since I was a student.  I currently serve as a clinical fellow in nuclear medicine at University Hospital Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark, and I furthermore hold a five-year Visiting Professorship at the University of South Wales. My research focuses on the mechanisms of organ failure in critical illness, notably the effects of hypoxia and acute systemic inflammation on cerebral and pulmonary function, using both human experimental and clinical models. I am a dedicated medical teacher engaged in the development of innovative teaching strategies in cardiovascular and respiratory physiology, as well as medical ethics.

Mark Dallas, University of Reading

I have been a member of The Physiological Society since I started my PhD studies at the University of Leeds. After completing a successful Alzheimer’s Research UK fellowship I moved, in 2013, to take up a lectureship in neuroscience at the University of Reading. I have benefited throughout my career from membership of The Society through travel grants and also my first research grant. My research is looking at the ability of gasotransmitters to regulate ionic homeostasis within the brain. More recently we are specifically interested in glial cells and their role in neurodegeneration. As well as being part of the Physiology News Editorial Board, I also serve as The Physiological Society’s Neuroscience Theme Lead.

Karen Doyle, NUI Galway

I am a Senior Lecturer in Physiology and Principal Investigator. My research involves studying neurovascular stress, and investigating novel strategies to protect brain tissue from damage. Within this, my focus is on understanding the pathophysiology of occlusive stroke and reperfusion injury. My research group investigate the characteristics of human blood clots that cause ischaemic strokes and the effect of reperfusion on the survival of brain tissue. I was leader of Galway Neuroscience Centre (2004 – 2009), and a former Vice President of Neuroscience Ireland (2007–2009). I also received the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence in NUI Galway (2015) and the National Teaching Experts Award (2015), National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (in Ireland). I have been a member of The Physiological Society since 2002 and have enjoyed making a contribution to The Society by serving on the Editorial Board of Physiology News since 2015.

Fiona Hatch, Cello Health Communications iScience, Medical writer

I completed my undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol and I went on to do a PhD in cardiology in the field of calcium signalling and ageing at the University of Hull. Since completing my PhD in 2013, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Surrey focusing on intracellular signalling, atrial fibrillation, and left ventricular hypertrophy. At this point, I decided to move away from academia and journeyed into the world of medical communications. I now work for Cello Health Communications, an agency that provides medical writing and management assistance to pharmaceutical companies. During my PhD and postdoctoral positions, I was an active Physiological Society member and sat on the Education and Outreach Committee and the Policy Committee. I recently joined the Physiology News Editorial Board in 2017 and I hope to provide an industry-based perspective to the magazine going forward.

Philip Lewis, University Hospital of Cologne

I hold a BSc in physiology from University College Dublin, a PhD in physiology from University College Cork, and have been employed as a postdoc at the University Hospital of Cologne (Germany) for about a year and a half. I first joined The Society as an undergraduate and it has given so much to me since: opportunities to present work at Society meetings, visit other laboratories to learn techniques, and meet countless Society members who bring fascinating research and enthusiasm to our field. It is a privilege to be part of the new Physiology News editorial board and to give something back. My research interests are broad – as a PhD trainee I worked on skeletal muscle functional and molecular adaptation to hypoxia in animal models. I now research chronobiology and sleep contributions to health and disease in humans.

Dervla O’Malley, University College Cork

I am a Lecturer and Principal Investigator in the Department of Physiology and the APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Ireland. My research is focussed on investigating the role of enteroendocrine L-cells in cross-barrier translation of microbial signals to the host nervous system. I have also received funding from the Irish Health Research Board to investigate cognitive dysfunction in neuromuscular disorders. I joined the Physiology News Editorial Board in order to become more involved with The Physiological Society, which has supported my career since I was a postgraduate student. I believe Physiology News has an important role in keeping members up to date with society activities and the latest physiological research. Also, as a scientist in the Republic of Ireland, I hope to offer a diverse viewpoint, to enrich the publication and broaden its appeal.

Katherine Rogers

I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland.  I teach on a wide range of bioscience modules in undergraduate and postgraduate courses. My doctoral thesis was in cell signalling and pharmacotherapeutics in molecular oncology.  While I still maintain an interest in this field, my current research focuses on bioscience education and, in particular, innovative pedagogical methods to make science more accessible and engaging for students on health-related degree programmes in higher education.  The Physiological Society has been very supportive to me in my academic career so I joined the Physiology News Editorial Board to become more involved with The Society, and to help make physiology more engaging to a wider audience.  I hope that my involvement with the Editorial Board will help to further publicise the Physiology News and to increase the readership to a wider audience, particularly among higher education students and post-graduates.

Lalarukh Haris Shaikh, Palantir Technologies

I became a member of The Physiological Society during my PhD in Medicine from the University of Cambridge, which was funded by the British Heart Foundation. As an Affiliate Member of The Society, I really enjoyed learning about physiology sub-disciplines that were different from mine and were featured throughout Physiology News. I felt this made my own research more innovative. After a postdoc investigating drug targets for primary hyperaldosteronism due to secondary hypertension, I decided to move towards industry where I am now leading pharmaceutical, healthcare and finance initiatives using data to power decisions such as the top few drug targets that are most likely to make phase I of a clinical trial. Alongside my current role, I also co-founded and currently sit on the executive board of a mental health charity that aids in reintegrating patients who suffer from mental illness back into mainstream society.

Christopher Torrens, University of Southampton

I am an Associate Professor in Physiology at the University of Southampton. I am a vascular physiologist by training and started off my career between the Placental & Perinatal and the Microvascular & Endothelial areas of physiology. As my career has progressed I have become more involved in teaching and so I am now most likely to be found in the Vascular & Smooth Muscle as well as the Education & Teaching Themes. I joined The Society in 2001 during my PhD. Since then, I have been a Society Representative, served on the Education & Outreach Committee and became a Fellow Member in 2017. Throughout my time as a member, I have always read Physiology News and its diverse output of news, research and members’ views. Now, as a member of the Editorial Board I want to ensure it continues to promote physiology, The Society and the great work done by our members.

Want to contribute to Physiology News?

We welcome pitches including cutting edge science, historical pieces, personal stories about careers in physiology, book reviews, and policy or education-related topics. Get in touch at magazine@physoc.org with a preliminary title, a sentence or two summarising the focus of the article and a brief list of a bullet points summarising the various sections, like a short outline.