Claire Johnson

I have been part of the teaching team in Multidisciplinary Engineering Education since 2015, as the academic lead for the bioengineering and biomanufacturing related lab practical activities. I mainly teach undergraduate and postgraduate students studying bioengineering and chemical and biological engineering. I am also the module lead for the 3rd year bioengineering group design projects.

I was the Departmental Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion from 2017 - 2022 working with colleagues to improve equality and diversity of our staff and the GTAs that work with us. I led the department’s successful Athena SWAN bronze award submission in 2022. Since 2016 I have been the Ethics Administrator for Interdisciplinary Programmes Engineering.

I studied my undergraduate degree, medical biochemistry, here at The University of Sheffield in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. After graduating in 2000 I worked as a Research Technician in the Dental School, working with colleagues in the company Boots to develop cell culture models for studying the efficacy and retention of anti-inflammatory molecules on the oral mucosa. During this time I carried out research for my MPhil degree, working towards a model cell system of gingival inflammation.

I moved to the Engineering Faculty when the funding ended and joined the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Group. Here I worked on a number of multidisciplinary research projects developing tissue-engineered models of cornea and skin that would help improve people's health. For 6 months, I also gained experience working in a commercial cleanroom environment for patient cell therapy work. In 2012 I moved from research to a teaching role where I coordinated and developed lab practical activities for bioengineering undergraduates. It is during this time that I successfully completed a MEd in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.