May 2024: Hitchin councillor

I was proud and honoured to have been elected to represent Hitchin Highbury at North Herts Council in May 2024. "Small p" politics arises in almost every job, and even within families; the travesty of Brexit drew me into active involvement with the "big p" kind, but I listen to and support all residents as best I can. My current term runs until 2028.

If you live in Highbury ward (shown in the adjacent map), and have an issue that you would like help with, you can find my contact information on the council's website. There are also drop-in community surgeries in Hitchin on the first Saturday of each month.

Oct 2021: School governor

I have been a governor at Whitehill Junior School since 2021. My children benefitted from their time at this excellent school, and I've learned a lot by giving something back. It's also been a fun challenge trying to present some principles of my research to ten year-olds during school Science Week! I currently co-chair the committee overseeing the school curriculum.

Feb 2013: Literate Science

I have a family history of enthusiasm for languages. As a teenager I set about trying to create my own language from scratch, which for some reason included several irregular verbs. Later I briefly explored Esperanto, and some of my research has explored the interactions between bilingualism and the brain.

Scientific language can be unnecessarily dull and obtuse, which I think should be resisted; but at the same time, most scientists have to write in English, which is a second language for many. I set up Literate Science in 2013 to provide scientific language services, and I've since copyedited hundreds of thousands of words of scientific prose for fellow scientists across the world. Rates and contact information are on its website.

November 2009: UCL Lecturer

After completing my PhD in Edinburgh, through an innovative programme designed to cross-train physical scientists in neuroscience, I moved to University College London as a post-doc. In late 2009 I began a lectureship, and have been teaching and leading research in neuroimaging and brain connectivity since then. I am based at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, a research institute closely linked to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

My UCL home page has further information about my university roles and interests, including relevant programmes if you're interested in studying with me.

May 2009: Published code

Before I was an imaging scientist I was a computer scientist, and I still enjoy coding when I have the time. For many years I've been using and developing for the flexible R programming language, which has its origins in statistical computing, in addition to C++, Swift and other languages.

My public code is available on GitHub, and contributions are welcome. CRAN hosts several of my R packages, and I am co-maintainer of the Medical Imaging Task View. I have also peer-reviewed software for rOpenSci.