Most of my career has been built on a passion for science and writing. After a degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, I did a PhD in developmental genetics at the University of Edinburgh. Then I realised that I liked communicating science more than I liked doing research itself – so I moved into science journalism.
I’ve been writing and editing for the journal Nature for over 20 years. For five years I was Chief Magazine Editor, leading the award-winning team of 60-70 journalists and editors that publish the magazine’s journalism and opinion content. For this work, I won the Editor of the Year award from the Association of British Science Writers.
In 2022, I moved to become a senior editor for Nature and returned to reporting feature stories, on topics ranging from science advice to AI to mental health. I was named European Science Journalist of the Year in 2025 for three of my features.
My writing has won other accolades including the Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award. I particularly enjoy long-form writing, including features and books.
My popular science book, The Life Project, was named best science book of the year by The Observer, was a book of the year for The Economist and was longlisted for he Orwell Prize. You can read more on the Books page.
My second book, Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works, will be published in April 2026. It’s about the ‘evidence revolution’ – the global movement promoting the idea that scientific evidence should guide our decisions, rather than unreliable opinions or conventional wisdom.
I’m also an Honorary Professor of Practice at University College London, where I teach science writing on the MSc in Science Communication.
I live outside London with my partner and three boys, which means that time is short but life is always interesting.
(This photo of me was taken by the brilliant photographer Chris Close at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August 2016. He asked me to be DNA – so this is me, sort of being DNA. )