Life in the Lab

Sponsored by BD. Kade Flowers wanted to be an astronomer, then a doctor, until he passed out the moment a surgeon made the first cut. A college careers adviser pointed him towards biomedical science instead, and he’s now a clinical biochemist in Brighton who has just passed his FRCPath exams. For National Pathology Week, Kade talks about running a myeloma screening service, teaching in the lecture hall where he once sat as a student, and why a piece of lab kit could have saved the crew in the film Sunshine a trip to the sun.

Sponsored by BDKaren Perkins didn't get the best A-level results but she’s now a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. Along the way there was a one-way ticket to Canada for a PhD, a postdoc at Imperial, four years in R&D at Unilever (and a signed letter from Roger Bannister), plus a seven-year career break to raise her family. For National Pathology Week, Karen talks about the mentors who brought her back to the lab, her pilot of needle-free blood sampling for patients with learning disabilities and needle phobia, and why half a day of work experience is better than none.

What can a few drops of blood tell you about a newborn? Quite a lot. Bev Hird breaks down how newborn screening saves lives, the ethics of early testing, and her mission to ensure no baby falls through the cracks.

When a mystery drug shows up in Birmingham, Alex Lawson and his lab are on the case. In this episode, Alex walks us through clinical toxicology—from overdose detection to nitazenes and contaminated vapes, and why his job sometimes saves lives.

From GOSH to West Africa, Elaine Cloutman-Green is fighting infections with creativity and curiosity. She talks catheters, cleaning standards, genome sequencing, and how Azithromycin might save babies’ lives. Oh, and yes, she’s worked on a project called Mordor.

Dr. Mayur Patel wears many hats: chemical pathologist, digital innovator, and hormone enthusiast. Tune in for a whirlwind tour through his career path, from endocrinology nerd to changing A&E chest pain pathways through troponin testing and IT upgrades.

Labs aren’t exactly known for being eco-friendly… but Jyoti Shetye is changing that. From reducing stock days through team “league games” to closing labs without layoffs, she shares how she brought sustainability to the forefront of healthcare labs in the UAE.

Lab values aren't always neutral. Clinical chemist Dr. Octavia Peck Palmer takes us inside her mission to tackle health disparities and systemic bias in diagnostic testing—and shares how her sepsis research turned into a movement for equity in laboratory medicine.

Professor Tahir Pillay proves that you don’t have to choose between art and science. In this episode, he unpacks his work on futuristic antibodies (nanobodies!), his creative alter ego DJ Kemp, and why cross-disciplinary science is the future.

Meet David Gaze, a self-confessed “Mr. Troponins” of the lab world. From childhood fascination with the heart to revolutionising heart attack diagnostics, David walks us through the ups, downs, and lifesaving science of cardiac biomarkers—and why he once helped test a gorilla.