Early Career Lecturers in Bioscience

The Early Career Lecturers in Biosciences (ECLBio) is an advisory group to the Heads of University Biosciences (HUBS). The group feeds in the views of early career staff to HUBS and the Royal Society of Biology activities.

Follow us on X (formally twitter) @ECL_HUBS

The ECLBio terms of reference are to:

• Highlight the key issues facing early career lecturers.
• Facilitate a network for early career lecturers to discuss and debate these issues.
• Run targeted events to provide support for early career lecturers and post-docs moving into lecturer positions.
• Provide support for early career lecturers to develop their subject-specific and pedagogical knowledge.
• Feedback to HUBS on discussions and initiatives developed by the group.

Members of ECLBio

Dr Beth Lawry MRSB (Chair)
Dr Natalie Riddell (Secretary)
Dr Chinedu Agwu
Dr Rochelle Hockney
Dr Alison Yeates
Matt Bawn 
Dr Andrea Paterlini

Beth Lawry is a lecturer in the School of Biomedical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences at Newcastle University, also supporting students to find year-long and summer placements. Beth originally joined the school as a teaching fellow in 2017 and has since led several modules including first year practical skills, microbiology and immunology, study abroad year, and science communication. Prior to this position Beth was a Research Associate at Newcastle University working on novel biomarkers and vaccine targets for pathogenic bacteria.

Beth's PhD was on diagnostic biomarkers for Clostridium difficile and she also completed an MRes in Medical Microbiology at Newcastle University in 2012. Beth’s science career began with a BSc in Applied Biology from Northumbria University, graduating in 2006, before working as a biology technician, and upon returning from working abroad, a microbiology technician. Beth is keen to increase opportunities for students from all backgrounds and performs pedagogical research in working with students as collaborators.

Natalie Riddell a Lecturer in Immunology and Ageing at the University of Surrey. She obtained a BSc in biomedical sciences from the University of Kent before completing a PhD in psycho-neuro-immunology at the University of Birmingham.

In 2010, she moved to UCL where she undertook post-doctoral research studying T cell senescence in the division of infection and immunity. Natalie’s research focuses on endocrine regulation and age-related changes in immune function, with a particular focus on hormonal regulation of immunosenescence and immunometabolism. Natalie is also involved in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate immunology. She is passionate about outreach and public engagement and has been involved in the organisation and delivery of various events.

 Chinedu Agwu completed her PhD in Women’s health at Manchester University, investigating the acute and chronic effects of statins on vascular function in Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy, with a major focus on Pre-eclampsia. Following this, she spent some time working as an Associate Medical Writer for a private healthcare communications company where she created oncology related scientific content for pharmaceutical companies such as MSD and Incyte. In 2021, Chinedu returned to academia and worked part-time as a Teaching Fellow in Biosciences and an Admissions Tutor at the University of Hertfordshire and part-time as a Scientist TBL Educator creating curriculum content for the new medical school at Brunel University London.

Currently Chinedu works full-time at Brunel Medical School as a Lecturer on a teaching and scholarship contract. In this role she teaches in the "Scientific Enquiry and Evidence-based medicine" and "Reproduction, Growth and Ageing" TBL teaching Sessions whilst also serving as a house tutor, SSC Project Supervisor and recently appointed as Academic Lead for Widening Participation. Externally she has also launched a science enterprise called BioSci Toolkit, a non-profit organisation supporting decision-making for students pursuing Bioscience degrees and careers, especially black and racially minoritised students.

Dr Rochelle Hockney is a senior lecturer in Biomedical Science at Leeds Beckett University. Her research investigates the role of infection and inflammation in reproductive health, pregnancy and fertility, plus the impact of contraceptive options of reproductive tract cancer and female health.

Rochelle was previously a lecturer at Teesside University, where she also achieved her PhD in Microbiology in 2020. Prior to this she worked in industry at a pharmaceutical company, gained an MSc in Reproductive and Developmental Medicine at The University of Sheffield and BSc Biology at Derby University.
Alongside teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students, Rochelle enjoys being the main outreach and engagement co-ordinator, plus social media content creator at Leeds Beckett University. She has a passion for inspiring the next generation of scientists to be involved in innovative and exciting technology based research.

Dr Alison Yeates is a Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences at Ulster University. She was awarded her PhD from Ulster University in 2009 having previously graduated from Ulster with a Masters in Research (2006) and a BSc Hons Human Nutrition (2005). With over 10 years’ research experience in the Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE) at Ulster, Alison has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications (H-index 17) and supervises a number of PhD projects. She is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and contributes to teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level within the School of Biomedical Sciences. Alison’s research interests include maternal and child nutrition, with a specific interest in long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, iodine and selenium, and the contribution of animal foods (meat, dairy and fish) to human health. She has extensive experience of research study design, in conducting human intervention studies and in the biochemical analysis of nutritional biomarkers.

Matt Bawn studied physics and worked as an engineer in industry before studying a PhD in biochemistry. He undertook postdoctoral positions in New York and Peru and at the Earlham and Quadram Institutes in Norwich working on pathogen evolution, before joining the University of Leeds in July 2022 as a lecturer in bacterial genomics. Matt applies bioinformatics solutions to research questions concerning the evolution of bacterial pathogens via their interaction with the environment, their hosts and horizontal-gene transfer and implications for human health. His work addresses the biological evolution of pathogenicity and its impact to epidemiology and method development of tools for the detection of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria, Matt is the programme leader for a new fully online MSc in Precision Medicine and Genomic data science, the module leader for BIOL2114 Big Data and Omics Biology and is the incoming assessment lead for the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology. He is also the Faculty representative for the Working Group for Artificial Intelligence in Student Education. His teaching interests are in how to increase student engagement and outcomes through the application of digital tools and authentic assessments.

Andrea Paterlini is a teaching-focused Lecturer in Genetics Education at the University of Edinburgh. He obtained a BSc with Honours (Plant Sciences) from the University of Edinburgh before completing a PhD in Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge. His research has focused on cell-cell and long-distance transport, processes with high relevance for plant growth and development. In the last few years, he has transitioned from core research roles to more education-oriented jobs in academia and in the third sector. He worked for the Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme, promoting plant science education across the UK, and then moved to the University of Sheffield as a University Teacher in Plant Molecular Biology. He started his current position in Edinburgh in 2023 and is heavily involved in teaching genetics via interactive lectures, workshops and practicals. He continues his research by involving students in the projects. Andrea is a HE Fellow with a keen interest for innovative pedagogical approaches and hopes to support the community of early career lecturers in developing their personal teaching philosophies.