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Roger Highfield

Roger Highfield is the Science Director at the Science Museum Group, a member of the UK's Medical Research Council and a visiting professor at the Dunn School, University of Oxford, and Department of Chemistry, UCL. He studied Chemistry at the University of Oxford and was the first person to bounce a neutron off a soap bubble. Roger was the Science Editor of The Daily Telegraph for two decades, and the Editor of New Scientist between 2008 and 2011. He has written or co-authored ten popular science books, most recently Stephen Hawking: Genius at Work, and has had thousands of articles published in newspapers and magazines.

The UK must prepare now for a potential new wave of coronavirus infections this winter that could be more serious than the first, warned a report in July. Roger Highfield, Science Director, asks one of the authors about the state of current COVID-19 preparations.

Tomorrow (28th July), Locomotion will be our first of our five museums to open its doors to visitors. Roger Highfield, Science Director, describes the science behind reopening.

Never before have so many of the world’s researchers focused so urgently on a single topic. Roger Highfield, Science Director, discusses how COVID-19 has highlighted the critical role of science in combating disease and how the greatest health challenge of a generation has changed science.

In the global race to curb the pandemic, scientists are testing a new kind of vaccine. Roger Highfield, Science Director, talks to key figures in the ‘David and Goliath’ race for a COVID-19 ‘RNA vaccine’.

Science Director Roger Highfield explores how growing human tissue into mini-organs, or ‘organoids’, will help the fight against COVID-19, from explaining puzzling complications to creating novel treatments.

The UK has analysed the genetic sequences of more SARS-CoV-2 viruses than any other country. Science Director Roger Highfield investigates how this and other data can help understand how to control the virus and ultimately save lives.