University Tour!

Click here to visit the Podcast Page

Click here to listen to this episode

The panel of speakers at Durham University included:

• Dr Gavin Jarvis
• Dr Aleksandra Svalova
• Chaplaincy students: Ola, Francesca

Click here to listen to this episode

The panel of speakers in London included:

• Prof Stephen Bullivant
• Chaplaincy students: Sean and Caterina

Click here to listen to this episode

The panel of speakers in Leeds included:

• Fr Chris Gorton
• Prof Matthew Dell
• Chaplaincy students: Anthony and Sons

Click here to listen to this episode

The panel of speakers in Bangor included:

• Dr Elizabeth Lam
• Dr Wollis Vas
• Chaplaincy student: Isaac Osahon

Click here to listen to this episode

The panel of speakers in Brisol included:

• Prof Julian Hughes
• Dr Monika Kondratowicz
• Chaplaincy students: Sam, Thomas

Click here to listen to this episode

The panel of speakers in Edinburgh included:

• Prof Maria Ubiali
• Michael O’Duffin
• Chaplaincy students: Andre, Paige

Past Programmes:

Science and Faith – Season 3 “Faith Journeys in Science”

• Episode 1 – Begins broadcasting May 20 (Friday) at 8:30pm, May 22 (Sunday) at 4pm and May 23 (Monday) at 10pm

The speakers at the event will be Prof. Robert Turner and Dr. Mihnea Turcanu. Robert is a British neuroscientist, physicist, and social anthropologist. He has been a director and professor at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, and is an internationally recognized expert in brain physics and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Mihnea pursued a PhD in biomedical engineering at the University of Glasgow where he specialized in ultrasound-mediated targeted drug delivery technology. He is currently a research associate at the university of Leuven, Belgium where he has been using AI technology to enhance ultrasound imaging that is used in radiotherapy cancer treatments.

• Episode 2 – Begins broadcasting on May 27 (Friday) at 8:30pm, May 29 (Sunday) at 4pm and May 30 (Monday) at 10pm

Speakers at the event included Fr Philip Miller and Miss Maria Findlay-Wilson. Fr Philip grew up in Kent, and then in St Albans, Herts, where he attended Nicholas Breakspear Catholic Secondary School. He studied Natural Sciences (Physics) at Cambridge as an undergraduate, and then for a PhD in radio-astronomy at the Cavendish Laboratory. He attended the Venerable English College, Rome, for his seminary formation, and was ordained in St Albans in September 1999. Since then, he has served in parishes and hospital ministry in Westminster diocese, most recently as Parish Priest of St Augustine’s, Hoddesdon.

Maria is Head of Physics at Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School, St Albans. She started teaching two and a half years ago, completing a PGCE at the University of York after finishing with a first in Natural Sciences, specialising in Physics.  Maria grew up in a strongly Catholic family, and was lucky enough to have amazing guidance in her life, from her parents, parish youth group, and the ‘Faith Camp’ she attended from the age of 12 each summer – a movement dedicated to linking Science and the Faith for young Catholics. She currently volunteers at her local church as a catechist for the confirmation group, and in the past have been part of the local SPUC group in York. 

• Episode 3 – Begins broadcasting on June 3 (Friday) at 8:30pm, June 5 (Sunday) at 4pm and June 6 (Monday) at 10pm

Speakers included Professor Mike Kelly and Sofia Carozza.  Mike is the Emeritus Prince Philip Professor of Technology at the University of Cambridge since 2016, having held that post since 1 September 2002. He was awarded a 1999 Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal for contributions to quantum semiconductor devices and in particular their manufacturability and the 2006 Hughes Medal of the Royal Society for the exploitation of novel transport phenomena in semiconductors in practical electronic systems.  Sofia is a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. In her current research, she is using neuroimaging and computational modelling to explore how early experiences of adversity affect child brain development.

•  Episode 4 – Begins broadcasting on June 10 (Friday) at 8:30pm, June 12 (Sunday) at 4pm and June 13 (Monday) at 10pm

Speakers included Dr Charles Wilson and Giacomo Casale. Charles is a leading expert on breast, colorectal and anal malignancy. He has led the development of new radiotherapy techniques, most recently the radioembolisation with Yttrium particles for inoperable liver metastases resulting in Addenbrooke’s becoming a nationally accredited centre. He has been the local principal investigator for several national clinical trials in systemic therapy for breast and colorectal cancer. Giacomo graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry from Imperial College London in 2020. As an undergraduate, he spent a year in the Pintacuda lab at the Very High Field NMR Centre (CRMN) in Lyon, France, where he worked on the characterisation of membrane proteins by solid-state NMR.

• Episode 5 – Begins broadcasting on June 17 (Friday) at 8:30pm, June 19 (Sunday) at 4pm and June 20 (Monday) at 10pm

Speakers included Fr. Robert Gay and Dr. Szymon Stelter.  Robert teaches moral theology and bioethics at Blackfriars Hall and Studium. He is a Governor of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, and is a member of the Advisory Board for a Catholic Investment Fund. Fr Robert was elected Prior to the Holy Spirit Priory, Oxford, in May 2018. He is also JCR Chaplain and Welfare Officer, providing pastoral and spiritual support to Hall and Studium students.  Fr Robert studied biological sciences at Wye College, University of London, before going on to do his doctorate in Plant Physiology at the University of Glasgow. He studied Philosophy and Theology at Blackfriars Studium, and bioethics and medical law at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham. His academic interests include the ethics of persistent vegetative state, ethical issues at the end of life, and the use of Thomistic virtue ethics in bioethics.  Szmon is a research scientist working in the biotechnology industry in Cambridge. He obtained his PhD in Molecular Immunology from St George’s, University of London. Szymon is involved in many evangelising initiatives, like The Word on Fire Institute and Catholic Voices. He also leads a group for young Catholic adults in the local parish.

• Episode 6 – Begins broadcasting on June 24 (Friday) at 8:30pm, June 26  (Sunday) at 4pm and June 27 (Monday) at 10pm

Speakers include Fr. Robert Verrill and Dr. Maria Ubiali. Fr. Robert is an English Dominican Friar who was ordained to the priesthood in 2012. He came to Baylor in 2016 after completing an MA in Philosophy at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California. Before joining the Dominican Order, he studied mathematics at Cambridge in England and completed a doctorate. He is particularly interested in trying to understand modern physics from a Thomistic perspective. Maria read Physics at the Università degli Studi of Milan, in Italy, gaining a First-Class Honours degree. In 2006 she moved to Edinburgh to study for a PhD in Theoretical Particle Physics. She obtained a joint doctoral degree from the University of Edinburgh and the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. She then moved to Aachen, Germany, for her first postdoc in 2010. She was awarded a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship in October 2016 and in 2017 became Lecturer in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.

• Episode 7 – Begins broadcasting on July 1 (Friday) at 8:30pm, July 3  (Sunday) at 4pm and July 4 (Monday) at 10pm

Speakers include Professor Jim McManus and Professor Daniela de Angelis. Jim is a Generation Q Fellow, Director of Public Health at Hertfordshire County Council and Interim President of the Association of Directors of Public Health. Jim is Lead for Population Health for the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care System and is an Honorary Vice-President of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. Jim is a Chartered Psychologist, Chartered Scientist and Fellow of the British Psychological Society.  He led ADPH policy work on local outbreak plans and covid-19 suppression including ADPH ‘Living Safely with Covid’ policy papers. Jim co-created the national public mental health collaborative for Covid-19 and co-chaired the national review of suicide prevention plans in England. He has just completed three years as Chair of the Behavioural Science and Public Health Network and was a co-author of the National Strategy for Behavioural Science in Public Health. He was a member of the national Faith Taskforce on Covid and is a member of the Oversight Group for the National HIV Strategy.  Daniela is Professor of Statistical Science for Health at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Deputy Director and Programme Leader at the Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit (MRC-BSU). At the BSU, Daniela has overall responsibility for the research theme “Statistical methods Using data Resources to improve Population Health” and leads the research programme on ‘Evidence synthesis to inform population health-related decision making’. Daniela has over 25 years of experience of working at the interface between statistics and infectious disease epidemiology, focusing on the development of statistical methods for the characterisation of epidemics, including natural history, burden and prediction of future evolution, informing the implementation and evaluation of public health policies. Daniela is member of a number of local/national/international scientific advisory groups such as NICE, WHO, and UNAIDS and collaborates widely with health agencies nationally and internationally. She is also currently a member of SPI-M (Scientific Pandemic Influenza Advisory Committee, subgroup on Modelling), which reports into SAGE; member of the Modelling and Analytics Board for the NHSx Covid 19 App; and member of the Royal Statistical Society Task Force for Covid-19. Daniela also recently won the University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Award for Impact and Engagement, in the Established Academic category.

Season 3 was made possible thanks to the generous grant funding from ECLAS.

If you would like to get in touch, email: scienceandfaith@radiomariaengland.uk

Facebook/Instagram: @radiomariaengland#RMESCIENCEANDFAITH

Past Blogs:
To hear Season 1 as a podcast, please click below and Subscribe.  Why not also send in a review?  It will help other listeners find the podcast!

Season 1 Episode:

Season 2 Episode: