About the editors
About the editors
Chief Editor: Peter Kirkpatrick, PhD
Peter Kirkpatrick studied for his BA at the University of Cambridge, UK, taking a first in chemistry. He stayed in Cambridge for his PhD, investigating the biosynthesis and mode of action of vancomycin-group antibiotics in the group of Dudley Williams. After a short postdoc, he joined the launch team of Nature Reviews in June 2000. He joined the launch team of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery as Associate Editor in 2001.
Senior Editor : Alexandra Flemming, PhD
Alexandra Flemming studied molecular biology at the Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg, Germany. After carrying out a 1-year diploma-thesis in infectious immunology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, she returned to Germany for her doctoral studies with Prof. Michael Reth, Max-Planck Institute for Immunology, Freiburg. Alexandra received awards for her thesis on the role of the B-cell signalling protein SLP-65 in the malignant transformation of B-cells, and carried on working on B-cell signal transduction during her postdoctoral research as an EMBO fellow and Human Frontiers Science Programme fellow at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute. She joined Nature Reviews Drug Discovery as Associate Editor in March 2005.
Senior Editor : Charlotte Harrison, PhD
Charlotte Harrison studied biological sciences at the University of Leicester before studying for a PhD in opioid-receptor pharmacology at the same institution. She then moved to the University of Michigan, USA, to undertake a postdoc in the department of pharmacology. Upon returning to the UK, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at Pfizer, investigating G-protein coupled receptor dimerization. After a position as a biomedical information scientist at Pfizer, she joined Nature Reviews Drug Discovery as Associate Editor in April 2006.
Senior Editor: Sarah Crunkhorn, PhD
Sarah Crunkhorn studied for her BSc at the University of Sheffield where she obtained a first in pharmacology. Following her doctoral research in molecular toxicology at the University of Surrey in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline, where she investigated mechanisms mediating xenobiotic-induced liver growth, she moved to the Joslin Diabetes Centre, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, for her postdoctoral research. There she carried out studies aimed to identify novel molecular mechanisms of thiazolidinedione action in humans, and explored the mechanistic role of obesity and overnutrition in modulating muscle gene expression important in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. She joined Nature Reviews Drug Discovery as an Associate Editor in May 2007.
Associate Editor: Monica Hoyos Flight
Monica Hoyos Flight studied biochemistry at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, before completing her doctoral research on Wnt signalling, axonal remodelling and synaptogenesis at Imperial College London, UK. Monica joined Nature's web publishing team in June 2005, where she worked as an editor on the Cell Migration and Signalling Gateways, before becoming an Assistant and then an Associate Editor on Nature Reviews Neuroscience and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. Her main interests are cell/molecular biology and science communication; in her current role she is enjoying broadening her knowledge of all aspects of neuroscience and drug development.
Senior News Editor: Bethan Hughes, PhD
Bethan Hughes studied biochemistry at the University of Bath before completing her doctoral research determining gene expression of quiescent T lymphocytes at the Laboratory of Functional Immunogenetics, The Babraham Institute, affiliated to the University of Cambridge. In 2004 she joined the medical communications agency MediTech Media as an Account Executive for the HIV team. To expand her therapeutic area experience she joined Sudler & Hennessey in 2006 as Account Manager, where she progressed to Account Director providing medical communication solutions for various pharmaceutical clients. Bethan joined Nature Reviews Drug Discovery in June 2007.
Contact details
The Nature Drug Discovery team is based in the London editorial office:
