Jonny Brooks-Bartlett

Biochemist

As a 6 year old, Jonny had a toy laptop that could only play games like Hangman, Remember the Numbers and the Arithmetic test. Between that, some parental inspiration and a handful of incredible teachers along the way, he got hooked on mathematics.

Jonny retained this love of mathematics and studied it at the University of Southampton where he became fascinated with the applications of maths and how it could be used to model and understand absolutely anything. Jonny completed his Master’s thesis on the mathematical modelling of cartilage tissue before moving to Oxford to research the effects of radiation damage in crystallography experiments under the supervision of Prof Elspeth Garman.

Jonny is very active in public engagement and enjoys inspiring children of all ages to go into higher education.  He has won two awards for his work: School’s Choice Award for student ambassador of the year and Commitment to Outreach.  Jonny has also participated in science festivals and exhibitions, and is the Famelab 2014 Oxford regional final winner.

About his work, Jonny says “Although the current research is very different to what I’m used to, my supervisor, Prof Elspeth Garman, has been fantastically supportive, so the transition has been incredibly smooth. It’s great to be able to apply my skills to a new field and now I’m feeling more and more like a real scientist.”