Knowledge Diplomacy
I attended a most rewarding three-day discussion at Wilton Park in late June on the topic of Knowledge Diplomacy. I consider it most rewarding because the event brought together both geographic and disciplinary diversity in examining the respective roles of higher education, academia, and industry in mitigating geopolitical tensions and potentially healing geopolitical divides. I’m … Continue reading
EU Citizen Engagement on Personalised Medicine
I’m delighted to join the Citizen Engagement Board for the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine (EP PerMed). I’ll be working with the Fondazione Toscana Life Sciences, who is leading EP PerMed’s work package 5 on “International, Transnational, Interregional and Overarching Cooperation”. WP5 also includes citizen engagement activities, both intended to collect information from citizens on … Continue reading
G7 Impact
For the past few months, I’ve been working with Suzanne Sincavage. Krishna Ravi Srinivas, Mei Lin Fung, Trevor Muehlfelder and Marta Bertolaso on a policy brief for the Think 7, the official think tank group of G7. I authored the four recommendations and it was my great pleasure to present the policy brief at the Think 7 in Rome … Continue reading
Sino-Eu Personalised Medicine Trip
I joined the Sino-Eu PerMed project’s Expert Task Force for ELSI at the beginning of this year. Following two online meetings, together with colleagues in Denmark, Italy, Germany, France and the UK, we were able to meet in person this April in China and visited a few research institutions and pharmaceutical companies. It was an … Continue reading
ISA Publications Committee Meeting
I was thrilled to visit Taipei again after the pandemic, this time for the International Sociological Association’s executive committee meeting. More specifically, I was there in my capacity as the editor for Current Sociology Monographs and SSIS book series. It was great to spend a few days with this group of lovely people. Academia Sinica … Continue reading
New Project on Industrial Biotechnology
I’m thrilled to lead the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and policy components of the BBSRC funded project, Engineering Biology Mission Hub for Environmental Processing and Recovery of Metals (ELEMENTAL). Recovering critical minerals and metals will play a critical strategic role in circular economy and in pollution reduction/prevention. Key technical breakthroughs, such as new engineering … Continue reading
Bangaluru fieldwork
I had an amazingly productive week in Bangaluru at the beginning of January, discussing science diplomacy and global governance in synthetic biology and biobanking with natural and social scientists. I am so grateful to Suryesh K Namdeo, PhD and everyone at the DST Centre for Policy Research – IISc Bangalore for their rich insights and fantastic questions. It was … Continue reading
Editorships at the International Sociological Association
It was a great honour to be elected as the new editor for two of the International Sociological Association’s (ISA) publications:1) Current Sociology monographs (special issues) and 2) the SAGE Studies in International Sociology. Since last November, I’ve been supported by a wonderful group of colleagues at the ISA, especially my predecessor Professor Chaime Marcuello. … Continue reading
Why I worry (differently) about China’s biobanks
I wrote a commentary piece for the Progress Educational Trust last November. Below is an excerpt: China’s fast rise in the biobanking sector has spurred international concerns. One prominent example is the Chinese company BGI Group, which manages China National GeneBank. In 2021, Reuters warned that BGI might be accumulating data for military advantages from millions of women … Continue reading
Three Conferences in China
In mid-September I visited China for the first time since the pandemic. I was thrilled to see friends and colleagues in Chengdu and in Beijing. It was a real honour to discuss how to open up science communication with a distinguished panel this Tuesday in Beijing at the 2023 World Conference on Science Literacy (please … Continue reading
Joy Zhang 