People

Naijing Liu completed her PhD in linguistics at the Australian National University in 2023. Her research interests are phonology, prosody, and anthropological linguistics.

She works on endangered language documentation in the Manaslu region of Nepal and has been working as a research assistant on various anthropological and linguistics research projects in Botswana, Ethiopia, and Australia. She is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics at the University of Oxford.

At Oxford, her research focuses on the typology of prosody in tonal languages and examines prosodic interfaces through a fine-grained analysis of Tsum, an endangered Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nepal.

ORCID：https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1892-8475

Personal web: https://naijingl.github.io/

Thomas is a senior post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG) where his research focuses on the control of metabolism in the developing and failing heart.

Thomas completed his PhD at the Medical Research Council Harwell Institute in 2018 where he worked on models of cardiac disease in the lab of Dr Paul Potter.

Thomas also holds a position at University College as a senior lecturer in metabolic biochemistry.

I conduct experimental research at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute to improve the efficiency and longevity of gas-turbine engines. In modern aircraft engines, air temperature in the hottest regions exceeds the melting point of metal components, requiring active cooling to prevent damage. Modest improvements in this cooling effectiveness can significantly extend engine lifetime and performance.

My research experimentally measures cooling effectiveness to inform new cooling technologies and validate the numerical models used in industry. I am currently redesigning a high-speed, rotating experimental facility (OTRF) that uniquely replicates conditions found in next-generation high-pressure turbines, while co-supervising a DPhil project to improve high-speed infrared thermography.

I completed an experimental PhD on transonic shock wave–boundary-layer interactions, followed by two years in industry. Alongside my current postdoctoral work, I am also developing a new experimental facility for heat-exchanger research. My broader goal is to research experimental topics in fluid dynamic that contribute to net-zero technologies.

Dr McDonald is a historian of modern Latin America and global Catholicism. At Oxford, he is a postdoctoral research fellow for the “Global Pontificate of Pius XII: Catholicism in a Divided World” research project supported by the German Historical Institute in Rome.

His research explores Latin America in Catholicism’s global Cold War along two axes. The first centers on networks created through the Vatican-led deployment of foreign clergy, missionaries, laypeople, and resources to the region. The second examines how Latin American laypeople shaped Catholic internationalism in the Cold War through transnational Catholic Action movements.

His first book, Peripheral Citizenship: Popular Movements and the Progressive Catholic Church in Urban Brazil, was published by the University of California Press in August 2026. Dr. McDonald’s work has appeared in the American Historical Review, Hispanic American Historical Review, and The Americas, among other journals. Dr McDonald’s research featured in the recent Netflix film, Apocalypse in the Tropics (2025) as well as in public outlets like the Washington Post and Harvard Review of Latin America.

Prior to Oxford, he held fellowships at Harvard University and the University of Rochester. He received his PhD in History from Brown University.

Dr. Tan is a cancer cell biologist in the laboratory of Professor Richard White at Ludwig Cancer Research.

She completed her PhD in the laboratories of Associate Professor Andrew Cox and Professor Mark Dawson at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and University of Melbourne. Her current research focuses on understanding how pigmentation in our skin may influence how skin cells communicate with one another and potentially be involved in tumour initiation.

The White Laboratory have previously shown that skin cells (melanocytes and keratinocytes) communicate through electrical signalling and intriguingly, melanin, the pigment produced by melanocytes has electrical properties. This led Vicky to ask whether melanin may modulate electrical behaviour in skin cancer (melanoma) cells, and play a role in cell-cell communication and melanoma progression. To address this, Vicky will use melanoma cell lines with differing pigmentation levels and develop a new unique model to study calcium activity in melanocytes as a readout for electrical activity. With new models to assess electrophysiology, Vicky aims to understand whether pigmentation is involved in initiating melanoma, which could ultimately inform new therapeutic strategies targeting cancer.

Sue is responsible for the purchase ledger, mainly dealing with supplier invoices, enquires regarding payments, and expense payments. She works Monday-Thursday.

To contact Sue, please email invoicing@some.ox.ac.uk 

Dr Younger’s research focuses on improving maternal healthcare delivery and addressing inequalities in access and quality of care.

She examines how biases in medical technologies and healthcare systems affect access to antenatal care, particularly for ethnic minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. By engaging diverse stakeholders including patients, clinicians, engineers and regulators, her work seeks to redesign and implement inclusive maternal health solutions.

Based at the Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, Dr Younger also leads Patient and Public Involvement initiatives to incorporate user perspectives into person-centred implementation of maternal health services.

Her background includes clinical experience as a nurse practitioner and global health work on midwife led health promotion projects in low- and middle-income countries. She holds a PhD from the University of California, San Francisco, where she studied environmental factors impacting maternal health.

Martin’s research focuses on developing drugs that manipulate the activity of immune cells in our body, with a particular emphasis on finding new ways to activate immune cells to fight cancer. His work bridges fundamental immunology and protein engineering.

Martin pursues two complementary approaches. First, he studies how T-cell receptors – the immune system’s ‘detectors’ – recognise cancer-specific molecular patterns, to inform the design of more specific and effective therapies. Second, Martin engineers proteins to block tumour ‘stop signals’ (inhibitory ligands) that suppress immune responses, aiming to restore and amplify anti-cancer activity.

Martin completed his PhD in 2023 at the University of Oxford in the group of Prof Simon Davis and is now a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Dr Ricardo A. Fernandes.

Dr Smith is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the group of Prof. Christopher J. Schofield, FRS, jointly based in the Department of Chemistry and Ineos Oxford Institute.

Her research centres on the discovery and development of novel antibiotics to combat multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. In particular, she is pioneering innovative methodologies to elucidate the interactions between antibiotic candidates and their bacterial targets.

Beyond her scientific work, Dr Smith is actively engaged in outreach and public engagement initiatives aimed at raising awareness of antibiotic resistance and inspiring the next generation of scientists to pursue careers in research.

My research focuses on developing and integrating advanced NMR and mass spectrometry–based multiomics approaches to characterise metabolic pathways underlying neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

I aim to bridge analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, and data science to identify blood-based biomarkers for early disease detection and progression prediction.

At Oxford, I combine NMR metabolomics with proteomic and imaging biomarkers to develop predictive models for cognitive decline and disease progression, working in close collaboration with groups in Pharmacology and Biochemistry. Alongside my research, I tutor medical students at Somerville College, offering insights into disease from a molecular and analytical chemistry perspective.

I completed my DPhil in Chemistry at the University of Oxford in 2025 and am now an EPSRC-funded postdoctoral fellow in Physical Chemistry.

I’m College Lecturer at Somerville, as well as Departmental Lecturer in Computer Science. I’m teaching a range of courses, most of which about programming languages and theory.

My research revolves around dependent type theory, which is a very powerful logic that can be used both as a programming language and as a formal language for mathematics. I’m interested in understanding better the foundations of type theory and finding new applications for it.

I completed my DPhil in 2024 under the supervision of Samson Abramsky and Sam Staton. Before coming to Oxford, I studied Computer Science, Mathematics and Philosophy at RWTH Aachen, Imperial College London and LMU Munich.

Rasmus is a DPhil student with an interest in the philosophy of mathematics. His main interest lies at the intersection of axiomatic theories of truth and set theory.

With his supervisor, Professor Volker Halbach, he is currently looking at ways of extending the base theory of certain axiomatic theories of truth from arithmetic to set theory. This will allow him to explore the proof-theoretical consequences of adding axiomatic theories of truth to set theory.

Rasmus has an MA (Hons) in Philosophy and Mathematics from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in Mathematics and Foundations of Computer Science from the University of Oxford.

Dr Christiana Mavroyiakoumou is a Fulford Junior Research Fellow at Somerville College. She is also a Hooke Research Fellow at the Mathematical Institute, affiliated with OCIAM. 

Christiana is an applied mathematician specialising in developing mathematical models and computational methods to tackle complex problems in science and engineering. Her current research focuses on fluid dynamics, particularly fluid–structure interactions. Some of her current research topics include the deformation of extensible membranes, the dynamics of sailing manoeuvres, and the aerodynamics of bird flight formations. She also studies interactions between vortices and free surfaces. These research fields have practical applications in flow energy harvesting and the development of efficient propulsion systems.

Dr Mavroyiakoumou completed her PhD in Applied & Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Scientific Computing at the University of Michigan and then worked as a Courant Instructor/Assistant Professor at the Courant Institute of New York University. Her achievements include the Joseph B. Keller Postdoctoral Fellowship and Peter Smereka Dissertation Award.

A link to her personal website can be found here.

Dr David Schramm is a Foundation Doctor at Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust and a Somerville alumnus with research interests in interventional radiology, medical innovation, and data-driven approaches to improving patient outcomes.

David matriculated at St Peter’s College, Oxford, to read Biochemistry before completing graduate-entry Medicine at Somerville. His academic work includes developing AI tools for opportunistic vertebral fracture detection and leading multicentre studies on contrast-associated kidney injury and venous thrombosis management. He has also contributed to national collaborative studies through the UK Interventional Radiology Trainee Collaborative (UNITE) committee and evaluated digital health technologies such as wearable ECG devices and virtual operating platforms.

Alongside his clinical training, David maintains an active interest in translational biotechnology and early-stage innovation, contributing to protocol design and patent development.

I am a Wellcome Trust early career fellow in the Department of Biochemistry. My research investigates organisation and biophysical properties of bacterial membranes.

I first started looking at the outer membrane during my PhD in the lab of Bart Hoogenboom at University College London. I then did a postdoc in the lab of Prof Tom Silhavy at Princeton University, where I learnt bacterial genetics.

In Oxford, I am looking at how and why the outer membrane of species like E. coli are kept organised and highly immobile. These are intriguing properties, since cells must be dynamic to survive. They must insert new proteins and lipids to grow, move molecules laterally to migrate, and deform the membrane to divide. I investigate these properties using atomic force microscopy, bacterial genetics and super resolution microscopy.

I work primarily on the intersection of literature and economics (in the ‘Economic Humanities’), and have published works on modernism, economics, critical theory and the philosophy of language. 

As a Rhodes Scholar, I received my DPhil (PhD) in English from Hertford College, Oxford, in 2024. I am currently working on turning my dissertation on Walter Benjamin into a book. This project not only tries to demonstrate how Benjamin’s philosophy allows us to think traditional approaches to economics anew, it also helps us see how, in Benjamin’s words, we might begin to work ourselves free of “the net in which we are caught.”

I have an edited collection with Palgrave Macmillan due to be published at the beginning of next year, entitled Inflationary Modernities: Literature, Culture and Economy. 

Dr. Sontag González works on spatially-resolved luminescence approaches to date old archaeological sites in Spain.

Through innovative methods including infrared-radiofluorescence and infrared-photoluminescence of feldspar minerals, Dr. Sontag González is targeting Middle and Early Pleistocene localities relevant for human evolution studies to test the limits of state-of-the-art luminescence dating of sediment.

Previously, Dr Sontag González has worked as a postdoc at the University of Heidelberg (Germany), Stony Brook University (USA), and Justus Liebig University of Giessen (Germany), primarily investigating IR-RF dating methodologies and the complex interplay between luminescence characteristics and chemical composition. During her PhD at the University of Wollongong (Australia), she focused on improving available approaches to date samples from volcanic regions in Indonesia. She originally trained in molecular biotechnology and then transitioned into archaeological sciences.

View Dr Sontag González’s latest publications

My name is Joel Clarkson, and I’m the Chapel Director here at Somerville. I’m delighted to help support and cultivate Somerville’s interfaith environment in our non-denominational chapel.

I develop and host Somerville Chapel’s Choral Contemplation series, events happening 5.30pm every Sunday in term time, which combine beautiful choral music from the Somerville College Choir with inspirational readings, and reflections from speakers of a variety of faith and non-faith backgrounds.

I also help connect members of the Somerville community with wellbeing resources, including classes in Yoga and in Meditation for Wellbeing in Movement and Stillness.

In my professional life beyond Somerville, I’m a composer for film, concert, and sacred music, and I also have a research focus in interdisciplinary studies between music and theology.

I completed my PhD in Divinity through the Institute of Theology, Imagination and the Arts at University of St Andrews in Scotland. My doctoral thesis was focused on the way that twentieth-century Catholic metaphysics impacted musical and liturgical reform in the contemporary Catholic Church. My present scholarship is interested in the ways recent composers have sought to use form, style, and thematic content in their compositional approaches to convey spiritual meaning or evoke numinous experiences. I have written on the Scottish Catholic composer James MacMillan, and on theological content in the music of other composers such as Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki, and Olivier Messiaen.

I started my musical career in Los Angeles as a composer and orchestrator for film and TV. Following my doctorate, I established a specialisation as a composer for vocal music, particularly drawing on the English choral tradition. My music has been premiered and performed by preeminent vocal ensembles such as Grammy-nominated VOCES8 and the Vicars Choral of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. I was recently endorsed by Arts Council England under the Global Talent Visa scheme as an emerging talent in UK choral music.

I look forward to meeting you and hopefully welcoming you to one of our chapel events soon!

Hi, I’m Jess and I am a DPhil student in the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.  I am studying the impacts of hot temperatures on mental health outcomes in England. I decided to focus my dissertation on this topic because mental health is personally very important to me and I want to better understand how the environments around us, and the changing climate, are impacting mental health. 

I am from the United States where I received my bachelor’s degree in biology and my master’s in environmental health. Outside of academics I spend a decent amount time doing some form of physical activity as I have a goal of running the original 6 major world marathons — I have already completed 3 and will be running the fourth this fall. I also enjoy photography, reading, traveling, and baking for my friends. 

I am excited to be a part of the welfare team and the Somerville community. Please reach out if you would like a friendly chat, if you would like a listening ear, or if you need support. 

I have undertaken the following training for my role as Student Welfare Advisor:

• Supporting Reported Students Training organised by the University of Oxford Peer Support Programme
• First Aid Training offered by St John’s Ambulance
• Junior Deans Training offered by the University Counselling Service
• Peer Support Training offered by the University Counselling Service
• Health and Safety Training – Somerville Lodge Porters
• Fire Evacuation Training – Somerville Lodge Porters
• Welfare Policy and Procedures – Student Welfare Lead
• College Rules and Procedures – Decanal Officer
• Introduction to Safeguarding – Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership

Hello! My name is Jerry, and I am a DPhil student in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. I specialise in informatics and data science research, with a focus on climate change and road networks.

I am from Vancouver, Canada, where I completed my undergraduate and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. In my free time, I enjoy going to the gym, cycling around Oxford, and exploring local coffee shops and green spaces.

I’m excited to be part of Somerville’s fantastic community. Please feel free to reach out if you need any support, have a welfare concern, or want to have a chat — I’m here to help!

I have undertaken the following training for my role as Student Welfare Advisor:

• First Aid Training offered by St John’s Ambulance
• Junior Deans Training offered by the University Counselling Service
• Health and Safety Training – Somerville Lodge Porters
• Fire Evacuation Training – Somerville Lodge Porters
• Welfare Policy and Procedures – Student Welfare Lead
• College Rules and Procedures – Decanal Officer
• Introduction to Safeguarding – Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership

I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford, working across the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics and the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences. My research sits at the intersection of linguistics, social science and applied healthcare, focusing on language aspects of clinical interactions.

With a background in sociolinguistics, my earlier work examined language variation and change in multicultural settings. Over more than a decade of teaching English and clinical communication to medical students in Ukraine, I became increasingly interested in how linguistic practices shape clinical encounters and influence the uptake of medical advice.

My research draws on Conversation Analysis and Discourse Analysis to investigate how clinicians use language to navigate sensitivities of advice-giving, maintain rapport, and support behaviour change—particularly in the context of weight management. In addition to theoretical contributions, I am involved in applied projects that translate linguistic insights into practical communication strategies for healthcare providers.

Beyond academia, I have worked as an interpreter for election observation missions with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, supporting real-time communication in high-stakes, politically sensitive contexts. This experience has deepened my understanding of language under pressure and the ethical dimensions of communication.

I work across a range of externally funded studies. I previously held a prestigious British Academy fellowship, and I am a co-investigator on a NIHR policy research programme grant.

I am committed to interdisciplinary collaboration, international academic exchange, and public engagement, with a particular focus on improving the policies and practices of healthcare communication through linguistically informed research.

Research Interests

• Clinical Communication
• Conversation Analysis
• Discourse Analysis
• Interactional Linguistics
• Sociolinguistics

Abi Punt is a foundation doctor working at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

She graduated from Somerville with a BA in Medical Sciences in 2022, and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (BMBCh) in 2025. Her specialty interests include obstetrics and gynaecology, and paediatrics. She is passionate about medical education, and is committed to creating a supportive learning environment where students can thrive during their time at Somerville.