I am a social scientist specialising in biosecurity. I serve as a Reader (Associate Professor) in Science & International Security in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.
My research is theoretically informed, empirically grounded and policy-relevant, with a strong internationally profile. Bridging the life sciences and international security, I have developed a distinct and wide-ranging portfolio in biosecurity research. My interdisciplinary work critically examines key dimensions of biosecurity, including the life sciences-technology nexus, pandemic-risk research, high-containment laboratories, treaty verification, and biological disinformation.
Alongside my role at King’s, I hold concurrent appointments as Associate Senior Researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden, and as Non-Resident Scholar at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) in the United States.
I chair the WHO Technical Advisory Group on the responsible use of the life sciences and dual-use research (WHO RULS DUR) and I am a member of the WHO Health Security Interface – Technical Advisory Group (WHO HSI-TAG). I am a rostered expert for the UN Secretary-General’s Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical or Biological Weapons and I serve as the NGO Coordinator for the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). I was recognised among 20 women “at the forefront of keeping the world safe and secure from bioweapons” in an exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the BWC, hosted by the EU and the Permanent Missions of Australia, Panama, the Philippines and Sweden at the United Nations.
In October 2023, I was named one of the UK Government’s Champions of Science on its Biosecurity Leadership Council. More recently, I was invited by the Royal Society to contribute to its consideration of the security implications of genomic data sharing.
I serve on the Advisory Boards of the Cambridge CRASH Centre for Pandemic Risk Management, the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, UK Student/Young Pugwash, and the EU’s flagship initiative to encourage young women and the next generation to enter the non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament field. I also act as a mentor on the Young Women and Next Generation Initiative.
I regularly collaborate with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF), and the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium.
I am a columnist at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and an Editor of the social science journal BioSocieties.
Originally trained in human sciences, I completed my doctoral studies in sociology and spent the first ten years of my career at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). I joined King’s College London in 2012 as part of the founding team establishing the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, before becoming cross-appointed to the Department of War Studies in 2017, where I moved fully in 2025.
