I have a passion for art and the visual representation of scientific ideas. I am interested in how principles of graphic design and comic book illustration can be used to explain biomedical concepts, especially molecular and cellular scale phenomena that may be seen as intangible and abstract. Examples of this can be seen on my Twitter feed @axonologyand personal website www.axonology.com

 

I have been recognised internationally for my contribution to graphical representation of scientific concepts. In 2021, I won the Federation of European Microbiology Societies prize in a global competition for best cartoon on International Microorganism Day. I contribute open-source vector art to scidraw.io a freely accessible international repository of biomedical illustrations. These are images I designed for use in teaching and have been downloaded tens of thousands of times. My artwork has been requested for use around the world as beer labels, tattoos and more scholarly applications such as publication figures.

 

I am leading the use of custom 3-D printed models in life science education. In collaboration with Dr. Darren Gowers from the University of Portsmouth, I have designed 3-D printed protein models in durable epoxy resin. The models are coloured to match the scheme used in the relevant structural publication, additional key residues important in clinical understanding of protein function are also coloured. The models contain detachable elements, due to embedded mini-magnets, which adds a kinaesthetic learning experience. This project won competitive internal funding from the Medical School (Chilton  et al. ‘Handling tiny components of big concepts: Using 3-D printed molecular models to enhance medical education’) and has been presented internationally. I am leading an ongoing study to investigate the effectiveness of these models in conjunction with interactive Digital Learning Environment resources I have developed, as self-directed learning tools for students. I am collaborating with other discipline leads to design models with wider impact beyond biochemistry in fields such as immunology and microbiology. These are available to download for use in teaching and augmented reality simulations from my Sketchfab page https://sketchfab.com/axonology

 

During the pandemic I spearheaded and led a Faculty-wide study examining the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on student experience, published in an international journal (Chilton et al. Eur. J. Dent. Edu. 2023). I have built on this work by now mentoring a student-led project examining students’ use of online teaching resources compared to face-to-face methods. This will inform the development of novel curricula which employ blended teaching approaches.