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In some ways, we biomedical engineers are really just control freaks. By designing our own small world in a dish, we can stage manage every aspect and push the boundaries in a way that’s not always possible in an animal model.

Now I have a lab of my own, I’ve found that the best research comes from finding the right collaborators.

Could the lab rat be heading for retirement? A new breed of in vitro tissues and organs are being engineered to replace animal models – and the developers aim to make them accessible to all.

Robert Coffin tells the bench-to-bedside story of how the first FDA-approved oncolytic virotherapy, talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), was translated from a colleague’s cold sore to a potential global game changer.

From hardcore peptide biochemist to translational scientist, it’s been an unconventional journey for Jennifer Van Eyk, Director of the Advanced Clinical Biosystems Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles.

The combination of genomic profiling and high-tech targeted drug delivery is opening up a new front in the fight against cancer.

Whether you are a scientist working on a new intervention or a policy-maker trying to solve major public health problems, social and cultural factors are crucial pieces of the puzzle – ignore them at your peril. Here, I explain how social science can help.

Sitting Down With… Jennifer Grandis, Professor, Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Associate Vice Chancellor – Clinical and Translational Research, University of California, San Francisco, USA.

When Ewan McNay was eight years old, he decided that he wanted to do two things: live forever and find out how the brain works.