Who is Alex?
Photo Credit Steve Cross
The Public Engager
Alex is a young award-winning research chemist and inventor at the University of Warwick, with a passion for engaging the public in all things Chemistry and Science. He is not only a scientist with a growing international reputation but also an experienced public engager on the national stage. His work with the BBC and other media outlets has reached tens of millions of people globally.
Alex is a regular speaker and chair for Education in Action - speaking alongside Jamie Gallagher, Anna Ploszajski and Andrea Sella in Manchester, London and the Midlands to thousands of students. At these events he has discussed lateral flow devices, the chemical differences between medicines and drugs, and how to freeze humans.
Alex has also spoken at the Royal Institution in 2024, on the Chemistry of Star Wars. He has worked with Pint of Science, notably as an invited speaker at the national Cuppa Science event in 2020 - speaking alongside Marty Jopson. In 2021, as part of Coventry City of Culture, Alex chaired an expert panel session discussing the influence chemicals such as caffeine and cannabis have on society (“Chemicals, Cocktails and Creativity”). He is also one of the youngest scientists to present the Warwick Christmas lectures (2019) and year headlined the event in 2022.
Beyond speaking he has a wealth of experience working with young people and museums, interviewing scientists and creating media content to engage the public. Through his award-winning research, he has invented new lateral flow devices for COVID-19, developed cryoprotectants and has been interviewed by the BBC and Associate Press amongst other media outlets. Recent radio work with the BBC reached approximately 2 million people.
His particular areas of interest fall around his research designing medical diagnostics for the developing world. He has recently turned his attention to studying neglected tropical diseases such as snake bites. He believes passionately that everyone should have access to high quality science, so has founded conferences and events targeted at students from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds.
Alex is determined to make Chemistry an engaging and modern topic of discussion in every coffee shop and classroom in the UK and beyond.
The Academic
Alex is an active chemistry researcher. He is the lead of the Baker Humanitarian Chemistry Group.
During the UK COVID-19 lockdown (March 2020 to July 2020) Alex's research was applied to tackling the problems of COVID-19 diagnosis. By applying his research, Alex and other key workers in the Gibson Research Group (and colleagues in Warwick Physics, the Warwick Medical School and Iceni Glycosciences) were able to prove that the proteins on the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus could be sensed in a rapid lateral flow device. This was the first published lateral flow test (a "lateral flow glyco-assay") to use only carbohydrates ("antibody-free") as sensing units and highlighted that glycans can be used to target SARS-COV-2. This work was later applied to sense the virus in patient samples, in collaboration with the NHS.
Alex is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Warwick International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA) for his contributions to teaching, learning and the student experience. WIHEA is an academy of educators engaged in developing high quality learning and teaching at the University of Warwick. Alex has also been awarded a Warwick Institute of Engagement (WIE) Senior Foundation Fellowship for his work in outreach and public engagement.
Alex has also published on research culture and plays an active role in improving research structures and research culture at the university of Warwick.
Selection of organisations
worked with
Memberships & Fellowships
Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC)
Member of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (MRSTMH)
BIG STEM Communicators Network
Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
Member of the Royal Society of Biology (MRSB)
Senior Founding Fellow of Warwick Institute of Engagement
Member of The Royal Institution (MRi)
Fellow of Warwick International Higher Education Academy
Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow
Public Engagement
Silesian Science Festival
University of Warwick
Warwick ChemSoc
Alex presenting at the Royal Institution
SciMED Showcase
Warwick Arts Centre
Alex presenting at the Silesian Science Festival 
Resonate Festival
The Royal Society
Education in Action
Warwick Manufacturing Group
Cafe Scientifique
The Royal Institution
Pint of Science
Coventry Transport Museum
The Manchester Grammar School
BBC Radio
The Big Bang
Nerd Nite
Alex speaking at Chemistry in Action - Photo credit to Steve Cross 
The National Mathematics and Science College
The Midland Academies Trust
Alex presenting at the Warwick Christmas Lecture 2023 - Photo credit to Andy Gray & Peter Marsh at Ashmore Visuals
British Science Festival
Millennium Point Charitable Trust