Biomedical Science Day is an opportunity to celebrate the subject that sits at the heart of healthcare. For those who are unfamiliar, biomedical science uses the principles of human biology to understand the causes, mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatments of human diseases.  

Biomedical scientists play a central role in patient diagnosis and treatment, they analyse and process any samples taken when you visit your GP or hospital. As such, you will have used their services more than once in your life. But biomedical science is much more than just the hospital laboratories, there are biomedical scientists in research laboratories, in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, in teaching, in forensics, in food safety, in veterinary diagnostics and many more roles in society contributing to healthcare and beyond. 

There have been many famous British Biomedical Scientists who have advanced the subject. Examples include Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin and James Watson who discovered the structure of DNA; Fred Sanger, who received two Nobel prizes for his determination of the protein and DNA sequences of the hormone insulin; Alexander Fleming who discovered penicillin; Edward Jenner who invented the first vaccination for smallpox; James Black who developed beta blockers to treat heart disease and antihistamines to treat fight stomach ulcers; and more recently Sarah Gilbert who developed the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. These are inspirations for becoming a biomedical scientist, where you could solve the next health problems to emerge. 

I have been described as a ‘biomedical geek’, with a passion for understanding how molecules in the body interact to produce their effects. Originally trained in Zoology, I gained experience in parasitology – the study of the interaction between parasites and their hosts - before joining a hospital medical school laboratory to study stress hormones. Working alongside the Clinical Biochemists in hospitals across London I quickly learned the importance of problem solving. 

That is where I discovered the value of measuring hormones in disease settings and in particular the hormones of the brain, I became a Neuroendocrinologist. As a researcher I started on a journey to find the body’s own chemicals, particularly brain hormones, that could be used in both diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s. That journey has taken me down a road to discovering the beneficial actions of the body’s own cannabis-like chemicals in a model of Alzheimer’s, a discovery that has been taken further by others to the point where there have been trials of cannabis-based drugs for symptomatic relief in Alzheimer’s patients. Using an initial computer based bioinformatic screening technique a novel biologically active derivative of one of the brain hormones was also discovered and shown to have diagnostic plus therapeutic potential in the lab. This latter study was heavily supported and advanced by a PhD student.  

As a ‘biomedical geek’ I also have a passion for teaching the next generation of biomedical scientists so that others can go on such an exciting journey. That led me to join Leeds Trinity University to put together a brand-new Biomedical Science undergraduate course, along with recruiting a new team and building a modern fully equipped laboratory to allow the delivery of a practical focussed course. A great team of fellow ’biomedical geeks’ are now in place and the lab is being set up ready for the first students arriving in September 2023. We are all looking forward with excitement to taking new students on a journey of study for their BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science and watch them progress as the biomedical scientists of the future.

For more information about Leeds Trinity’s Biomedical Science course, visit the University website. 

Dr Nat Milton is the Academic Lead in Biomedical Science and Associate Professor (Professional Practice) at Leeds Trinity University.