Our people

Dr Vibhuti Patel is Head of Development, Southeast Asia and Australasia in the University of Cambridge Development and Alumni Relations office, building philanthropic partnerships for the Collegiate University in those regions. She previously worked at the University Research Office, where she looked after industry partnerships and research impact for the School of the Biological Sciences.

Prior to joining the University of Cambridge, Vibhuti worked in various roles across publishing, strategic partnerships and international development for the Royal Society of Chemistry.She has a background in biochemistry, completing her B.Sc. and Ph.D. at the University of Warwick. As part of and alongside her career roles, Vibhuti has provided training on knowledge exchange and research impact and consulted on research impact for the European Commission and for funding agencies in Chile.

My research focuses on the relationships between religious diversity, education, and social cohesion. I explore how schools, universities and local communities can better navigate religious diversity, fostering respect and understanding across diverse religious and non-religious perspectives.

Dr Peacock's publications have contributed to understanding how education plays a role in creating inclusive societies, where diversity is seen as an asset rather than a challenge. Her research outputs have also influenced social practice and policy around religious inclusion and diversity.

Publications

• Peacock, L. and Guest, M. (2024) 'Worldviews, Religious Literacy and Interfaith Readiness: Bridging the Gap Between School and University'. Coventry University and Durham University
• Aune, K., Peacock, L., Guest, M. and Law, J. (2023) University Chaplaincy as Relational Presence: Navigating Understandings of Good and Effective Chaplaincy in UK Universities, Journal of College and Character 24(3), 197-216
• Peacock, L., Guest, M., Aune, K., Rockenbach, A. N., Staples, B. A. and Mayhew, M. J. (2023) 'Building Student Relationships Across Religion and Worldview Difference'. Coventry University, Durham University, North Carolina State University and The Ohio State University
• Peacock, L. (2021) 'Contact-based Interfaith Programmes in Schools and the Changing Religious Education Landscape: Negotiating a Worldviews Curriculum'. Journal of Beliefs & Values 44(1),1-15
• Peacock, L. (2021) 'Building Closer Communities: An Evaluation Report'. Coventry University

Dr Alexander Peattie is a Research Associate in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences focussing on the role that neuroinflammation and peripheral inflammation play in the progression of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and development of the related dementia (PDD). This work investigates relationships between neuropsychological differences, potential genetic risk factors, blood/CSF inflammatory markers, and PET/MRI neuropathological hallmarks alongside the potential anti-inflammatory treatments possibly employed to combat PD and PDD progression from a longitudinal perspective. This may have important implications for other neurodegenerative diseases and dementias.

Previously, Alexander doctoral work focussed on the neurocognitive sequalae of chronic Traumatic Brain Injury, whether certain treatments ameliorated symptoms, and how neuroimaging could be used to identify certain patients. Additionally, Alexander collaborated with others in investigating Disorders of Consciousness, neurofunctional correlates of anaesthesia, and effects of psychopharmacological modulators.

Having done his PhD at Eddies, Alexander says he is "thrilled I can continue to contribute to a community close to my heart."

Rev Dr Stephen Chase Pepper, C.S.C. is a Roman Catholic priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, in the United States, “Chase” earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science and Catholic studies from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey (2007), his Master of Divinity from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana (2014), and most recently his Doctor of Philosophy, in theology, from the University of Cambridge and St. John’s College as a Gates Cambridge scholar (2023).

Chase’s research treats broadly on the interdisciplinary intersections of Christian systematic theology and Dante studies, with more concentrated focus on the subjects of participation, beatitude, and intercessory prayer in Dante’s poetry. He has spoken on Dante in a variety of settings, from academic conferences and university lecture halls to parishes and prison reading groups, and he is motivated by questions about how Dante can serve as an imaginative and theological resource for building bridges across human divisions.

Inspired perhaps by his childhood fascination with astronomy and Dante’s own journey among the stars, Chase’s greatest dream is to become the first Catholic priest to say Mass in space.

Andrea is a Fellow and College Teaching Officer in Law at St Edmund's.

Dr Peripoli studied Law at the University of Bologna, Cambridge, and at the European University Institute. Andrea's current research examines how legal discourse represents complex socio-economic realities. His work incorporates insights from cognitive sciences, game theory, and economic sociology to investigate how law (mis)understands the social world. Prior to his current role, Andrea taught EU law, Roman law, labour law, and law and economics at LSE and Cambridge.

Professor Sarah Perrett  is Associate Director of The Faraday Institute, which she joined in 2020, when she was elected to Senior Membership of St Edmund’s College. She is also a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where she has led a research group since 2003 and she continues to divide her time between Beijing and Cambridge. Sarah studied Natural Sciences (Chemistry) followed by a PhD in Protein Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. She then held a Research Fellowship at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge before moving to Beijing in 2000. She was awarded an OBE for services to UK/China relations in the scientific field in the 2015 Queen’s New Year Honours List.

Sarah is Editor-in-Chief of Essays in Biochemistry (Portland Press). Her research interests include mechanisms of protein folding and amyloid formation. She has published over 100 research articles and has edited three books.

My research is on the history and theology of Christian monasticism, mainly how monastic theology is a unique theological methodology. I also research the history of monasticism and spirituality in the Anglican tradition. I actively contribute to academic, professional, and ecclesial communities.

Rev Dr Peters is Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theology in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University, USA. He is also the Servants of Christ Research Professor of Monastic Studies and Ascetical Theology at Nashotah House Theological Seminary, USA. He is the author of "Reforming the Monastery: Protestant Theologies of the Religious Life," "The Monkhood of All Believers: The Monastic Foundation of Christian Spirituality," and "Peter of Damascus: Byzantine Monk and Spiritual Theologian," among other works. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Society of Anglican Theologians, the Executive Board of the American Benedictine Academy and is a board member of Anglican House Publishers. Professor Peters’ interest in Christian monasticism led him to pursue a Dottorato in Studi Monastici from the Pontificio Ateneo di Sant’Anselmo in Rome, the first non-monastic to earn the degree.

Though an expert on Christian monasticism, Professor Peters has also been involved in researching and writing on Anglicanism, including Edward Pusey’s support of the re-establishment of monasticism in the nineteenth-century Church of England and Anglican spirituality. To that end he has published "Anglican Spirituality: An Introduction" and several articles on Anglican monasticism. His interest in Anglicanism grew out of his appointment as Vicar of the Anglican Church of the Epiphany, La Mirada, USA.

Professor Peters is a Consulting Editor for the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, is on the Editorial Board of Magistra: A Journal of Women’s Spirituality in History and is a regular reviewer for the American Benedictine Review. In addition to his appointment at St Edmund’s College, he is a Visiting Scholar at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford.

Academic Profile

Publications

• Greg Peters, Anglican Spirituality, 2024, Cascade Books
• Greg Peters, The Monkhood of All Believers: The Monastic Foundation of Christian Spirituality, 2018, Baker Academic
• Greg Peters, Peter of Damascus: Byzantine Monk and Spiritual Theologian, 2011, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
• Greg Peters, “The ‘Reanimation Principle’ of Edward Bouverie Pusey: The Re-Establishment of Monasticism in the Church of England,” 2025, Anglican and Episcopal History

I lecture and publish in the areas of Christian moral and political theologies, interfaith relations, and conflict transformation. I have oversight of the Woolf Institute's teaching in the Cambridge Theological Federation as well as the Institute's public engagement programmes.

Dr Phillips has been at the Woolf Institute since 2022. Previously she was Lecturer in Christian Ethics and Director of Studies at Westcott House, as well as Research Fellow with the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology. She was a Visiting Scholar with the Institute for Criminology 2018-2019 and from 2016-2019 she co-convened and ethnographically researched a course on 'The Good Life and the Good Society' inside a high security prison. At Margaret Beaufort she completed Flourishing Inside, a project researching the intersections of Catholic social thought and prison chaplaincy. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Academic Profile

Publications

• Elizabeth Phillips, Apocalyptic Theopolitics: Essays and Sermons on Eschatology, Ethics, and Politics (Cascade, 2022).
• Elizabeth Phillips, Anna Rowlands and Amy Daughton (eds), T&T Clark Reader in Political Theology ( T&T Clark, 2021).
• Craig Hovey and Elizabeth Phillips (eds), The Cambridge Companion to Political Theology (Cambridge University Press, 2015).
• Elizabeth Phillips, Political Theology: A Guide for the Perplexed (Continuum, 2012).
• Elizabeth Phillips and Ferdia Stone-Davis (eds), Catholic Social Thought and Prison Ministry (2024).

I’ve been a careers professional since 2008, joining the finance school at the University of Reading just as the financial crash hit and a recession started. Quite a baptism of fire. My role broadened over the next few years to initially the Business School, and then to the wider University. I joined Cambridge as Head of Careers in the Summer of 2024, and am now happily settled in Waterbeach.

Prior to this career I was a HR professional, covering a range of roles from HR Policy, Project, and Process to Graduate Recruitment and Development.

I had an academically undistinguished time at the University of Manchester in the early ‘90s, but I really enjoyed the Madchester scene! I’m originally from a small market town in Yorkshire, which has been instrumental to my outlook on life, and has led to a passion for social mobility.

Emma obtained her PhD from Cambridge University, Department of Pathology, where she studied the protein-protein interactions of Influenza A virus polymerase. After a period of time at St George’s Hospital Medical School studying immune evasion mechanism of paramyxoviruses, she returned to Cambridge University. Emma then worked in the Department of Medicine at Cambridge University where she worked on Human Cytomegalovirus. In the Department of Medicine she worked as a Senior Research Associate researching the molecular mechanisms of Human Cytomegalovirus latency. In 2023 she was appointed an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge, Department of Pathology, where she continues to study Human Cytomegalovirus latency with a view to the development of novel therapeutics.

Former Acting Bursar at St Edmund's College.

Director of Studies in Law 

Matthew is a Fellow of St Edmund’s College and Director of Studies of Undergraduate Law.  He is a member of the Centre for Public Law, Cambridge.  He teaches constitutional law, and the law of trusts and equity, across a number of Cambridge colleges.  His research is in the field of constitutional law and constitutional theory.  His works on topics ranging from contemporary populism, constitutional change, referendums, and constitutional history, have been published in leading UK and Australian journals.

Matthew completed his PhD in law at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, supported by a WM Tapp Scholarship, on the topic of ‘Policy Referendums in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia’.  In addition to his doctorate, Matthew holds a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne.  In 2015 he matriculated at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge, completing a Master of Laws.

Before Cambridge, Matthew was admitted to legal practice, and worked as an Associate at the Australian firm Allens-Linklaters, practising as a litigator.  He advised clients on a wide range of government investigations, business disputes, class actions, and cross-border disputes.  In a pro bono capacity, he instructed in constitutional proceedings concerning democratic rights, and advised peak human rights bodies on issues concerning offshore refugee detention and the drafting of anti-discrimination legislation.  Taking time out of practice, Matthew spent a year working as the Senior Judicial Assistant to a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria (Australia).  Before coming to the law, Matthew trained as an economist and worked, in 2012, as a policy analyst at the Department of Treasury and Finance (Australia).

His Law Faculty page, including a list of publications and research projects, is available here:  https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/people/academic/mj-psycharis/78801

Former Director of the Science Museum, London

Russell Re Manning is the Deputy Centre Administrator at CRASSH (Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities).

Russell joined CRASSH from Bath Spa University where he worked as Programme Leader and Reader in Religions, Philosophies and Ethics. He previously worked in various research and teaching roles at the Universities of Aberdeen and Cambridge and was a Fellow at St Edmund’s from 2004-2011.

Russell’s research interests are at the intersections of religion and culture, with a particular emphasis on the intellectual history of ‘natural theology’ and the work of Paul Tillich (1886-1965).

Russell holds an MA from the University of Oxford (Philosophy & Theology) and an MPhil and PhD (Philosophy of Religion) from the University of Cambridge, during which time he was a student at St Edmund’s (and one of the very first residents in the Richard Laws building!).

Professor Evan Reid is a clinician-scientist who studies the molecular cell biology of genetic motor neuron disorders, with a research group based at Cambridge Institute for Medical Research. He is clinically active and see neurogenetics patients in my role as an NHS honorary consultant in Clinical Genetics.

Evan graduated in Medicine from Glasgow University in 1991 then trained in the specialty of Clinical Genetics in Glasgow and Cambridge. His main research interest is in the hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs), which are genetic forms of motor neuron degeneration. Evan moved to Cambridge in 1995 and completed a PhD in the Department of Medical Genetics in 2000, studying the genetics of these conditions. He has been involved in mapping and identifying numerous HSP genes. After stints as a Wellcome Trust Advanced and then Senior Research Fellow, he became a University Lecturer then Reader at the University of Cambridge. Since 2021 he has held the title of Professor of Neurogenetics and Molecular Neurobiology. Evan is a Principal Investigator at Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, a research institute of the University of Cambridge that has a strategic focus on unravelling the mechanisms of rare genetic disease. He is a clinically active and run a specialised neurogenetics clinic at Addenbrooke's Hospital. His research has encompassed the clinical features, genetics and cell biology of HSPs, but now concentrates on understanding the molecular pathology of HSP proteins that are involved in membrane traffic processes. This research has a strong focus on modelling the disease in human stem-cell derived neurons and encompasses proteomics, functional genomics and basic cell biological methodologies.

Academic Profile