Our people

• Director of Studies: Geography

Dr Liam Saddington is a political and environmental geographer based in the Department of Geography. His research examines the geopolitics of climate change with a particular focus on small island developing states. He has undertaken research in Fiji, Tuvalu, Antigua and Barbuda, Seychelles and Cabo Verde.

He contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching within the Department. He is particularly interested in pedagogic innovations; outreach and widening participation; and connecting geography across primary, secondary and higher education.

I am a dentist with special interest in Oral Surgery currently working in private practice in Cambridge. I have worked in the UK for 24 years in NHS, Community and private practice.

Dr. Zainab Salim is an experienced dentist with a global career in Kenya, Oman, and the UK. She holds a Master of Clinical Dentistry in Oral Surgery from the University of Edinburgh, where her research focused on Human Papilloma Virus in laryngeal cancers.
Her expertise includes:
• Surgical removal of wisdom teeth and coronectomies
• Management of odontogenic infections, soft tissue biopsies, and peri-radicular surgeries
• Pain and anxiety control, including intravenous sedation for apprehensive patients
• Familiarity of benign salivary gland diseases and management of medically complexed patients
• Use of laser technology in dentistry
Dr. Salim is dedicated to maintaining her knowledge of the latest techniques and materials through continuous postgraduate education. She places a strong emphasis on clinical governance, ensuring safe, effective, and evidence-based care in all aspects of her practice. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Salim is passionate about dental education and has been actively involved in training and supervising dental trainees and postgraduate students. She is a strong advocate for oral health, providing educational talks and free dental kits to disadvantaged children, to raise awareness about the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene.

Publications 

• Sara Al–Mahozi, Zainab Salim, Nicholas J Malden, Crispian Scully and Victor Lopes
• Tobacco Habit-Associated Oral Disease and the Negative Effects on Surgical Outcomes

Dr Samols is a ISGAP-Woolf Institute Postdoctoral Fellow. His research explores the connections between European history, Jewish studies, and visual cultures across the twentieth century. His work focuses on vernacular media forms such as photobooks, analysing how they shaped understandings of Jewish history for both Jews and wider publics. Samols holds a PhD in History from the University of Southern California (2023), an MSc in European studies from the London School of Economics (2016) and a BA in history from New York University (2012). He has received grants and fellowships from the German Historical Institute, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Association for Jewish Studies, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the Israeli Council for Higher Education.

Clemens is Professor of Social Ethics in the Keough School of Global Affairs and Director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, University of Notre Dame (USA), and holds a joint appointment with Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns. He is also a concurrent professor of theology in the Department of Theology.

Sedmak holds doctoral degrees in theology (Catholic University of Linz), philosophy and social theory (University of Innsbruck). Prior to his appointment at the University of Notre Dame, he was F. D. Maurice Professor for Moral and Social Theology at King's College London, and has held multiple positions at the University of Salzburg, serving as Director of the Center for Ethics and Poverty Research and Chair for Epistemology and Philosophy of Religion, and as President of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Social Ethics.

Former Master of Trinity College Cambridge

Dr Sampad Sengupta is a Post Doctoral Research Associate at St Edmund's. His research bridges the gap between engineering and healthcare, focusing on translational aspects of engineering applications. His work involves using computational tools to model cardiovascular diseases and their treatment.

The overarching aim of Dr Sengupta's research is to carry out computational investigations of cardiovascular flow and to improve understanding of cardiac disease and its response to treatment. He aims to improve clinical outcomes by employing bioengineering principles using computational tools. His areas of expertise include fluid dynamics, structural mechanics, cardiovascular mechanics, and computational modelling. He has previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Manchester, having obtained his undergraduate degree from Queen Mary, University of London, and postgraduate degree and PhD from Imperial College London. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

Publications

• Sengupta, S., Yuan, X., Maga, L., Pirola, S., Nienaber, C. A., & Xu, X. Y. (2023). Aortic haemodynamics and wall stress analysis following arch aneurysm repair using a single-branched endograft. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2023.1125110
• Sengupta S, Zhu Y, Hamady M, Yun Xu X. Evaluating the Haemodynamic Performance of Endografts for Complex Aortic Arch Repair. Bioengineering 2022, 9(10), 573. doi:10.3390/bioengineering9100573
• Sengupta S, Hamady M, Xu XY. Haemodynamic Analysis of Branched Endografts for Complex Aortic Arch Repair. Bioengineering. 2022;9(2). doi:10.3390/bioengineering9020045
• Bhute VJ, Sengupta S, Campbell J, Shah U v., Heng JYY, Brechtelsbauer C. Effectiveness of a large-scale implementation of hybrid labs for experiential learning at Imperial College London. Education for Chemical Engineers. 2022;39:58-66. doi:10.1016/J.ECE.2022.03.001

Javad Shamsi is deeply interested in light-matter interactions, particularly in tiny semiconductors known as Quantum Dots (QDs), which possess intriguing properties for lighting technologies such as LEDs, lasers, and quantum light sources.

Javad completed his undergraduate studies in Chemistry at the University of Tehran, where he undertook a research project under the supervision of Prof. Mohammad Reza Ganjali. He then pursued a PhD at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the University of Genoa, focusing on semiconducting nanocrystals and their optoelectronic properties. Following his PhD, Javad joined the Hyperion ERC project led by Prof. Sam Stranks at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, where he researched quantum-confined perovskite nanoplatelets for lighting technologies, including LEDs and quantum lighting, from 2018 to 2022. After completing his postdoctoral research in September 2022, he stepped away from intensive research roles and accepted a position as the EPSRC Programme Grant Manager in the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge. Although he initially intended to take a brief break of about a year, his plans were disrupted in October 2023, when he tragically lost his mother in an accident. This profound loss had a significant emotional impact, leaving him unable to re-enter the research sector immediately.

Recently, Javad began teaching energy materials courses to MPhil students in the Department of Materials and Physics at the University of Cambridge. He also took on a part-time lecturing role at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. In 2019, he joined St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, initially as a PDRA, and later as a Tutor and Bye-Fellow, providing pastoral support to approximately 40 students each term. He has also delivered several public lectures on his research, making it more accessible to a wider audience and contributing to broader societal benefits. Additionally, Javad is the director of ShamsLab, a consultancy specialising in energy, energy materials, nanotechnology, and quantum technologies, with a focus on tackling the pressing challenges within the energy sector.

At the college, aside from engaging in intellectual discussions with peers and providing pastoral support to students in their academic lives, Javad is keen to explore his interest in understanding the nature of light - something beyond the ripples of the electromagnetic field. This work bridges his expertise with his religion, which to some extent aligns with the philosophy of Ishraq. Inspired by Georges Lemaître, he believes St Edmund’s College is the ideal place to contemplate the connection between science and religion.

Academic Profile

Professor Philip Sheldrake's research currently focuses on the intersection of both spirituality and theology with “place identity” and cities, particularly cultivating public values/virtues and enabling effective public leadership. 

Professor Philip Sheldrake is a Visiting Scholar at St Edmund’s College. He is also Professor, Senior Fellow & Research Director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality at Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas.

Rupert was the Religion Editor and Hispanic Editor of The Times Literary Supplement from 2000 to 2020 and was previously Assistant Editor of The Tablet. He held a Visiting Fellowship at Oxford University from 2011 to 2013.

His books include: Benedict XVI (Hodder, 2005), Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack (Penguin, 2012), Rowan’s Rule: The Biography of the Archbishop (Hodder, 2014), God Is No Thing: Coherent Christianity (Hurst, 2016), Does Religion Do More Harm Than Good? (SPCK, 2019), Outgrowing Dawkins: God for Grown-Ups (SPCK, 2019), The Hardest Problem: God, Evil and Suffering (Hodder, 2022), and The Eclipse of Christianity and Why It Matters (Hodder, 2024).

• Director of Studies: Human, Social and Political Sciences

Dr Sara Silvestri is interested in the contested meaning and multifaceted roles of religion in international relations, with particular attention to Islam and the Euro-Mediterranean region. Located at the intersection between IR, Politics, and Sociology, her research, publications and teaching are concerned with how religious identities, symbols and political theologies impact global governance; the way faith-based networks, social movements, and secular international institutions relate to each other; and the evolution of public policies responding to the challenges of migration, multiculturalism, Islamism, and terrorism.

Sara is based between London, where she is Senior lecturer in International Politics at City University, and Cambridge, where she undertook her PhD (at St John’s College) and ESRC Post-Doc. In Cambridge she is currently Bye Fellow and Director of Studies in HSPS (Politics) at St Edmund’s College and collaborates with the POLIS department and the Divinity faculty. Sara also held visiting positions at the Cambridge Muslim College, the University of Bristol, the Univ. of Padua, and was a Marie Curie Fellow in Paris.

After her first degree in Arts (La Sapienza University, Rome) and qualifying as a journalist, Sara went to the University of Cambridge to undertake and MPhil in EU affairs and PhD and Post-Doc on the Politics of and about Islam in Europe. She also specialised in EU migration policies at the ULB (Belgium). She then became interested in role of Christians (especially but not only the Catholic Church) in the governance of migration and refugee flows when she was a Research Associate of the Von Hügel Institute and a member of the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Global Human movement .

Dr Silvestri has collaborated extensively with the policy and media world in her areas of expertise. She has worked in the Cabinet of the EU Commission President, has been a Research Associate at Chatham House (London); she has served as an advisor to the Brussels think tank European Policy Centre and the Annal Lindh Foundation for Intercultural Dialogue (Alexandria, Egypt) and as a 'global expert' for the UN Alliance of Civilisations. Sara currently serves as a Trustee of the Centre for Catholic Social Thought and Practice and of the Council on Christian Approaches to Defence and Disarmament.

Her research has been funded inter alia by the ESRC, British Academy, British Council, Luce Foundation, FCDO, European Commission, Caritas Internationalis, the European Science Foundation.

Gemma Simmonds is a sister of the Congregation of Jesus.  She is a senior research fellow at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in Cambridge, UK, where she is director of the Religious Life Institute, teaching Christian spirituality and pastoral theology. An international speaker and lecturer, she is an honorary fellow of Durham University, past president of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain and chair of trustees of the ecumenical Community of St. Anselm based at Lambeth Palace, London.  Gemma is an ecumenical canon of the Church in Wales and lectured in theology at Heythrop College, University of London from 2005 until its closure in 2018, specialising in Christian spirituality.  She has trained candidates for religious life and ordination in the Catholic and Anglican churches and been a spiritual director and retreat giver for over 30 years.

Gemma has been a missionary in Brazil, a chaplain in the Universities of Cambridge and London and a chaplaincy volunteer in Holloway Prison for 25 years.  She is a regular broadcaster on religious matters on the BBC, Radio Maria England and other radio and television networks.

Recent publications include:

Conspiracy Theories and Ignatian Discernment’ in Martin Dojčár ed., How Do We Discern Conspiracy Theories? (Trnava University Press, 2023)

Contributions on ‘What it Means to be Human’ and ‘Living a Religious Life’ in Peter Vardy ed., The Philosophers’ Daughters, (London, Darton, Longman and Todd, 2023)

‘Religieus Leven: de Toekomst Onderscheiden’ in Henk Witte and Arnold Smeets eds., Religieus leven met toekomst, (Berne Media, Tilburg University, 2023)

Dancing at the Still Point: Retreat Practices for Busy Lives (London, SPCK, July 2021)

Religious Life: Discerning the Future (with María Calderón-Muñoz), Joint Project Report for the Religious Life Institute and Centre for Catholic Studies, Durham University, 2020

‘Reflections on Mary and Mission’ in Susan Lucas ed., God’s Church in the World: the Gift of Catholic Mission, (London, Canterbury Press, 2020)

‘Mystical Ecclesiology’ in Mark McIntosh and Edward Howells, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology, (Oxford, OUP, 2020)

‘Perfectae Caritatis’ in Richard Gaillardetz, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the Second Vatican Council, (Cambridge, CUP, 2020)

‘Mary Ward: a Hidden Life in Painting’ in Kathryn Kerby-Fulton and Kate Bugyis eds., Women Leaders and Intellectuals of the Medieval World, (University of Notre Dame Press, 2020)

‘Women at the Grassroots’ Level of Church Leadership’, in Gunter Prüller-Jagenteufel et al., (eds.), Towards Just Gender Relations: Rethinking the Role of Women in Church and Society, Religion and Transformation in Contemporary European Society, vol. 13, (Vienna University Press, 2019), 29-36

‘Hearing the Call: a Theology of Vocation’ in Kevin J. Alban, ed., A Festschrift for Wilfrid McGreal, (Rome, Edizioni Carmelitane, 2019)

The Way of Ignatius: a Prayer Journey through Lent, (London, SPCK, 2018)

Dr William Simpson is a philosopher and scientist. He was born in Lincoln, a cathedral city in England, but now lives in Scotland (or wherever his work happens to take him). He has a doctorate in physics from St Andrews, in which he considered the macroscopic behaviour of sticky quantum mechanical forces, and he has a doctorate in philosophy from Cambridge, in which he put forward an ontology of quantum mechanics inspired by Aristotle's theory of hylomorphism. In 2020, he was honoured with an Expanded Reason Award for his work in philosophy. In 2021, he was awarded the Cardinal Mercier Prize in Philosophy. He continues to think about the metaphysics of quantum mechanics, and is interested in both the nature of consciousness and the mind-body problem. Broadly speaking, he's preoccupied with the ontology of nature, the unity of mind and nature, and the unity of nature and divine being.

• Director of Studies: Part III Maths

After concluding his undergraduate studies in Brazil (with a year abroad at the University of Bristol), José came to Cambridge to pursue Part III of the Mathematical Tripos and a PhD. He now works as a College Teaching Officer and Director of Studies at St Edmund’s, and has been lecturing in Part III since 2022.  His research is in the Foundations of Mathematics, particularly Category Theory and its relationship to Logic, Geometry, and Computation.  More recently, he has been working with the Topos Institute to develop and use double categorical tools for the modelling and understanding of specifications and behaviours of complex systems. Other interests include facets of mathematical thinking and how its understanding affects education, pure and applied logic, computer science, and languages (broadly construed).

• Director of Studies: Law LLM and MCL

Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran's research focuses on international law, particularly the human dimension of international law.

Professor Sivakumaran is Professor of International Law at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, and Fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge. He is a Senior Fellow at the Lieber Institute for Law and Warfare, United States Military Academy (West Point), Fellow of the University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre, and Fellow of the Centre on Armed Groups. He advises and acts as expert for a range of states, international organizations and non-governmental organizations.

Academic Profile

Publications

• Sivakumaran, The Law of Non-International Armed Conflict, 2012, OUP
• Higgins, Webb, Akande, Sivakumaran & Sloan, Oppenheim's International Law: United Nations, 2017, OUP
• Harris and Sivakumaran, Cases and Materials on International Law, 2020, Sweet and Maxwell
• Moeckli, Shah, Sivakumaran (eds), International Human Rights Law, 2022, OUP
• Sivakumaran and Burne (eds), Making and Shaping the Law of Armed Conflict, 2024, OUP

Dr Jing Su holds the position of Cancer Bioinformatics Lead at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. With an educational background that includes an MPhil and PhD in Computational Biology from the University of Cambridge, she has been associated with St Edmunds since 2004 and has been actively engaged in cancer research throughout her career. Driven by a deep passion, she aims to leverage her academic expertise to contribute to the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer patients.

Beyond her work in cancer bioinformatics, Dr Su is deeply committed to her role as an Associate Tutor and Bye-Fellow at the College. She views these positions as opportunities to give back to the College that has shaped her journey. Through her service to the College, she aspires to make a positive impact by sharing her knowledge and experiences.

I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, specialising in drug resistance and diagnostic development for parasitic worms. My research uses advanced genomic and transcriptomic approaches to address key challenges in parasitology and improve disease control.

Dr Mona Suleiman is a postdoctoral fellow at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, specialising in anthelmintic drug resistance and the development of diagnostic tools for parasitic helminths. Her research focuses on using experimental evolution models to investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying drug resistance in the nematode Strongyloides and identifying selection pressures in populations undergoing mass drug administration. Additionally, Mona is advancing molecular barcoding techniques to develop a high-throughput sequencing assay for human-infective helminths, which will enable more accurate diagnostics in resource-limited settings. Mona completed her PhD at the University of Bath, where she explored the role of small RNAs in parasitism, contributing to a deeper understanding of host-parasite interactions. Her research has been recognised with numerous awards, including the William C. Campbell Award from the Irish Society for Parasitology and multiple Best Oral Presentation prizes from the British Society for Parasitology and ISP.

Beyond research, Mona has extensive experience in global health collaborations, working with researchers in Kenya, Ghana, and Bangladesh to enhance diagnostic capabilities for parasitic infections. She is committed to interdisciplinary research and actively engages in mentorship and university initiatives to support the next generation of scientists.

Academic Profile

My research focuses on the history of Israel-Palestine, particularly on the pre-state period of British rule between 1918-1948. I also have an interest in how events in the Middle East impact communities in the UK, and how issues 'over there' effect us here and how these issues are played out.

James completed his DPhil in history at Merton College, University of Oxford, and his undergraduate and master's degrees in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. His doctoral thesis focussed on (often violent) interactions between the Jewish Yishuv (community) and the British during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine (1917-1948). He also examined continued interactions between the Yishuv and Palestinian Arab community during the latter stages of the Mandate when clear Nationalist camps were crystalising and interaction became more difficult.

James has also previously engaged in teaching for the University of Oxford and for the University of Georgia on a range of topics including Modern Middle Eastern history and politics, the Israel-Palestine conflict, religion, society and politics in Victorian England, and IR approaches to terrorism and insurgencies. He also lectured at Brunel University in 2023, delivering classes on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Academic Profile

Publications

• Book chapter entitled Whispers of Lives: Jewish Women and Sex Work in Mandatory Palestine 1918-1948, in 'Sex Work and Jewish History,' ed. Stefanie Fischer, Elisabeth Janik-Freis, Daniel Lee, and Paola Zichi [forthcoming]