Research

We are living in a global risk society, which has complicated the legitimising devices for scientific policies and has rendered social space for subaltern actors to develop new modes of intervention. My skills in organising and presenting interdisciplinary research projects have enabled my research to be valued by both the social scientific and the natural scientific communities.

Apart from contributing to a number of European Commission Framework Programme projects, I’ve obtained individual research grants from the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA), the British Academy, the British Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Independent Social Research Foundation in the UK, the National Science Foundation and the Department of State in the US, as well as la Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’homme in France.

My research interests are focused on

  • Art-Science interface 
  • Bioethics
  • China, India and the rise of the Global South
  • Citizen science and scientific citizenship 
  • Cosmopolitanism and Cosmopolitanisation
  • Decolonisation of knowledge
  • Environmental politics
  • Epistemic (in)justice
  • Plant ethics
  • Public engagement of science
  • Science diplomacy 
  • Social movement and state-society relations
  • Transnational governance of scientific uncertainties.

Memberships:

  • American Association of the Advancement of Science
  • American Sociological Association 
  • British Sociological Association
  • Chatham House
  • European Association for the Study of Science and Technology
  • International Sociological Association
  • Society for Social Studies of Science 
  • UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab

Current and Past Projects:

  • 2025 – O.D.E.SS.I. –A new odyssey for public engagement in a new era of science.
  • 2025-2030 (PI) Care-full Synthesis: Advancing Global Engagement on the Socio-Ethical Implications of Synthesising Human Genomes. Funded by Wellcome Trust.
  • Apr 2025-Mar 2028 (PI) Futuring Biological CommonsvPromoting Response-ability among Stakeholders of Scientifically Enhanced Plants. Funded by ARIA.
  • Feb 2024-Feb 2029 (Co-I, RRI lead) (PI- Martin Warren, Kent Biosciences) Engineering Biology Mission Hub for Environmental Processing and Recovery of Metals (ELEMENTAL). Funded by BBSRC
  • Sept 2023- Sept 2024 (Co-I) (With Jill Shepherd, Rebecca Cassidy and Camille Serisier). Bridging the Stem Cell Donation Gap: Engaging with the Black Communities. Funded by University of Kent.
  • 2019-  Sept 2024  (Co-I) (With Kathleen Vogel and Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley) Ethical Issues Surrounding Human Germline Genome Editing. Funded by National Science Foundation, USA
  • Nov 2022 – Mar 2024 (PI) (With Aparajita Mukhpopadhyay) Diffractive Knowledge Production in North-South Innovation Strategies: A Study of Major UK-India BioGovernance Research. Funded by British Academy.
  • 2022 – 2023 (PI) (With Peter Beresford, Bridget Penhale, Fiona Poland, Ewen Speed and Nicola Yeates, ) Decolonise Global Participation: Developing New Conceptual and Participatory Paradigms. Funded by ISRF.
  • 2022 May-December (PI) (With Veronika Stoyanova) Hijacking Scientific Skepticism: The Role of Subjugated Knowledge in Contemporary Political Gridlock. Funded by University of Kent
  • 2021 – 2022 (Co-I) (With Kathleen Vogel and Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley) Creating a BioGovernance Commons. Funded by the State Department, USA
  • Jan 2019 – Feb 2020 (PI) Promoting Social Embeddedness of New Biotechnologies. Funded by Newton Researcher Links Fund, British Council
  • Spring 2019 (PI) Creating Norms of Public Engagement of Science in UK-China Collaborations. Funded by GCRF Impact Fund and School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent
  • October 2018 (PI) Foreign Expert Visiting Fellowship, based at Beijing University of Technology
  • Jan 2015-Jan 2018 (PI) Governing Accountability in China’s Life Sciences: A comparative Study of Stem Cell and GM. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
  • 2011-2012 (PI) The Cosmopolitanization of Climate Change. Funded by Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’homme, France
  • 2006-2009 (PI) China stem cell research policy and related ethical issues. Funded by Wellcome Trust Biomedical Ethics PhD Studentship

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