ABOUT US
Scientists for Labour is a Socialist Society affiliated to the Labour Party. It is open to supporters of the Labour Party interested or involved in UK science and technology.
Since its establishment in 1994, SfL has become a strong political voice for science. We aim to improve the understanding of science within the Labour Party and nationally. We are also involved in advising the parliamentary Labour Party on science policy issues.
We organise a range of events from panel discussions to networking meetings, and are always interested in hearing from potential collaborators. You can request a speaker here.
Our constitution, our community standards. Our work on COVID-19
Contact Us
OUR PATRONS
Ben Fernando
Chair
Sir Paul Nurse FRS
Paul Nurse is an English geneticist, former President of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He has been a member of the Labour Party for nearly 40 years.
Lord David Sainsbury
David Sainsbury is a businessman, philanthropist and former Minister for Science and Innovation from 1998-2006. In 2008, Sainsbury was elected as an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society and in 2011 was elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
Dr Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown is a British politician who was Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007. He has been a consistent supporter of science and engineering throughout his career.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Izzy Creed
Chair
Izzy is currently a Theoretical Chemistry PhD student at the University of Oxford, studying a Quantum Mechanical problem, known as Many-Body localisation. She is also a stipendiary lecturer of physical chemistry at Exeter College, Oxford. Izzy previously attended Oxford University both for her undergraduate degree (MChem, 2018) and masters degree (MSci, 2019). Izzy's main political interests are in Health, Science and Technology, and Education.
Paul Henry
Vice Chair Membership
Paul is a Financial Technology Consultant specialising in data science. Prior to beginning his career in financial services, he completed a PhD at the University of Nottingham in sustainable chemistry. His area of research was using spectroscopy and machine learning to monitor biotechnological processes. His main political interests include environmental sustainability, particularly its social and economic impacts.
Avesta Afshari-Mehr
Secretary
Avesta is an (incoming) physics with theoretical physics student at Imperial College London. He joined the
Labour Party in July 2019 and Scientists for Labour in 2020, and also serves as the Youth Officer for the Ealing
Central and Acton Constituency Labour Party, and Chair for his local branch. He also stood as a candidate in the
2022 council elections. Avesta has been working on the creation of London Scientists for Labour, which will
have its massive launch in late 2022/early 2023.
Kartik Kavi & Avesta Afshari-Mehr
Webmaster
Kartik is a junior doctor at Leicester Royal infirmary. He joined the Labour party, as a medical student in
response to Jeremy Hunt’s contract dispute with junior doctors. He has since gone on to become the
Harborough constituency’s BAME officer.
Kartik is also a Campaigns Ambassador for Cancer Research UK. This involves lobbying the government on critical
issues in the fight to beat cancer.
(For Avesta's introduction, please see Secretary.)
Alex Greer
Alex is studying for a PhD in Chemistry at Durham University, researching new methods for scaled
synthesis of nucleoside 5’-triphosphates and their application in gene synthesis. He previously studied
Chemistry (MChem, 2022) at Durham, where he completed a master’s project in chemical biology. Originally
from Northumberland, Alex has been a member of the Labour Party since 2015, and a member of Scientists for
Labour since 2020. His main political interests are infrastructure, drug reform, justice, and the long-term future.
Harry Stratton
Harry Stratton is a lawyer and anti-corruption activist. His journalism for Jacobin and Tribune magazines has
exposed corruption in Westminster and local government. In his spare time, he is the Chair of London & Westminster Labour and Secretary of the Socialist Health Association. His first love remains quantum
chemistry, the dreams that stuff is made of.
Conor Cooper
Vice Chair Policy
Conor studied biological sciences at the University of Oxford and holds an Msc (by research) in
biology from the University of York. He currently works as a biology tutor. Conor has been a
member of the Labour Party since 2015 and joined SfL during the COVID-19 pandemic to help with
reporting. Conor's main area of political interest is environmental protection, with a focus on
conservation and climate mitigation, but he is also interested in education and welfare policy.
Daniel Villar
Treasurer
Daniel is a behavioural ecologist and conservation biologist studying for a DPhil in Biology at the University of
Oxford. He completed a BA in Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford in 2019 and a MSc(Res) in
Ecology, Evolution, and Animal Behaviour at the University of St. Andrews in 2020. Daniel has been a member
of the Labour Party since 2017, and of the UCU since 2019. His research focuses on how humans interact
with the environment in Lake Titicaca, influencing animal behaviour and the wider ecology of the Andes.
Daniel’s political interests include environmental policy both domestically and abroad, immigration policy, and
the role that science can have to bridge national divides.
Juna Sathian
Membership Secretary
Juna is a Assistant Professor in Physics at Northumbria University Newcastle, with research interests in Laser and
Maser technology. Before that, she was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Imperial College London and had
a PhD from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia in Nonlinear Optics and Laser Physics. Apart
from her research and teaching, she is active in outreach and career talks in STEM, influencing the futures of younger generations. She currently Chairs the SfL Newcastle Central Branch and the Blakelaw Branch Labour
Party and serves as a Community Councillor. She has been recently elected as a Newcastle City Councillor in
the May 2022 local elections.
Sanjush Dalmia
Sanjush is a medical student at the University of Leeds, undertaking a masters in research degree in
cardiovascular ageing. He is also the Head of Policy at Polygeia, a global health research and policy think tank,
where he works on establishing and managing collaborations with NGOs, think tanks and
researchers. Sanjush's main interests lie in metascience, the evidence-to-policy pipeline and pandemic
prevention.
Martin Whitfield
Martin is currently a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the South of Scotland.
He is also formerly the MP for East Lothian (2017-2019) and is currently Scottish Labour’s shadow minister for children
and young people, lifelong learning and youth unemployment and also acts as the Convenor of the
Parliament’s Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee.
He received the SfL Andrew Miller MP Parliamentarian of the Year in 2020 for his work
with SfL. Martin believes in the role of scientific thinking in political problem solving and the benefit of
expertise in decisions making.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Triin Ojakaar
Triin graduated from the University of Oxford with a master’s degree in psychological research where her research focussed on temporal perception and production in cognitive ageing. She is now working as a regulatory affairs associate for SharpTx, a young startup building digital therapeutics that help with the prevention, detection and monitoring of mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Triin’s main areas of political interest are science, health and sustainability.
Lise Magnollay
Lise Magnollay is a neuroscientist and experienced science communicator with a dual background in science and humanities. She has expertise in writing on science topics for diverse audiences such as patients, politicians, scientists and the general public. She has both a MRes and a PhD in Neuroscience from UCL.
Mike Cassidy
Mike Cassidy is an Independent Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. He has a PhD in Earth and Ocean Science from the University of Southampton and 8 years of research experience working across the world, specialising in geochemistry and volcano science.
Naomi Elster
Naomi Elster has a BSc in Pharmacology and a PhD in cancer. Part of her PhD directly led to a new clinical trial in breast cancer. She is an experienced science communicator, having been a media spokesperson on different research-related campaigns, and with almost 60 journalism bylines to complement her peer-reviewed papers. While still living in the Republic of Ireland, she was part of the successful campaign for abortion reform which won a landmark referendum in 2018. She is now Head of Research and Communications with a UK-based research charity.
Hugh O'Brien
Hugh is currently a PhD candidate in biomedical engineering at Kings College London. Prior to this he completed a BA in psychology, MSc in computer science and MRes in biomedical imaging sciences. He has also worked in the academic publishing and software industries.