Q1. Who inspired you to become a scientist?

Natural curiosity instilled as a boy on walks with my Grandad and, probably Prof. Dave Rickwood who supervised my undergraduate project. Inexplicably, he let an inexperienced student, with a very poor record of lab practical attendance, use one of the first confocal microscopes in the UK. I found my self-spending hours staring a T and B cells in the dark, making z-stacks, and looking at them through 3D glasses. It was like magic and I was hooked on cell biology.

Q2. What drives your research interest?

An inherent need to understand how things work. Particularly, how things work together to regulate a system. I have taken a lot of things apart in my lifetime and now just need to learn how to put them back together correctly.

Q3. What is your current research focus?

RNA-binding proteins are the core of my interest. What they regulate, how they regulate those targets, and how they themselves are regulated in response to cellular context (e.g. cell cycle, nutrient status, stress…..). I became interested in poly(A)-binding proteins during my PhD, a long time ago now, and they remain at the core of my research. However, my lab is actively broadening our focus by identifying novel RBPs that function during processes such as adipogenesis and in metabolic disease.

Q4. Who are your current scientific influences?

My own students and my collaborators, who bring me data, ideas, and questions, and shape the way I think more than anyone else. I work with students in the UK and in China and I love seeing how they sometimes approach problems in different ways. I think I learn at least as much from them as they do from me.

Q5. If you hadn’t become a scientist, what would your dream job be?

Rock star…..or at least closely involved in music management or similar. I was involved in the music scene in my 20s and had a couple of sliding doors moments that could have taken me down a very different path. It was a lot of fun. Possibly, too much fun…….

Q6. What are your hobbies?

Refer to the previous question. I can’t live without music and go to gigs regularly. Away from that, I love nature and can regularly be found walking the East Lothian coast looking at the flora and fauna and the breathtaking scenery. I’m also a keen gardener, but one who thinks a garden should be for attracting nature, rather than just to look nice.

Q7. What books influenced you the most?

Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide, etc.), Terry Pratchett (Discworld), Iain Banks (The Wasp Factory, etc.), William Gibson (Neuromancer, etc.), Clive Barker (Weaveworld, etc.), Isaac Asimov (Foundation series..). I have always been drawn to fantasy and escapism.

Q8. What are your favourite movies?

Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, Star Wars (the whole SW universe) , Awakenings, Grosse Pointe Blank, Alien(s) series….too many to mention.

Q9. What advice would you give your 18-year old self?

Given that all my choices, good and (mainly) bad, have resulted in where I am today, I would not be tempted to suggest any different choices. I would probably just say that you might be quicker to learn that other people’s choices, opinions, and voices are valid and to get over yourself a bit. But being an 18-year-old is not easy, and I wouldn’t be too hard on myself.

Q10. What, in your opinion, is the “next big thing” in the field of scientific research?

It is difficult to see anything but AI as being key to shaping science (and beyond). The progress in the last 12-24 months was extraordinary, and it can be a struggle to keep up. However, the capabilities are already staggering and the speed at which some analyses (empirical and/or predictive) can be done now is almost unbelievable. The struggle will be in the validation of the huge amount of new ‘facts’ that are being generated. AI can’t do that bit…..yet.