Jacqueline Elsom is a principal lecturer in Clinical Biochemistry and Biomedical Science. She is also a qualified Biomedical Scientist having trained and worked at both the Queen Alexander hospital in Cosham and then at St. Richard"s Hospital in Chichester and is a fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS). Her teaching reflects her professional practice and thus delivers in the areas of clinical biochemistry, haematology, blood sciences and biomedical laboratory techniques. She completed her PhD at the university of Brighton in 2004 and was invited to teach on the BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science later that same year. Her thesis investigated detection of nanoparticle interactions with oral epithelial cells using a quartz crystal micro balance, in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline. She completed her PGCert in education in 2006 along with her fellowship to the higher education academy and has been exploring teaching strategies to empower and engage her students ever since. 

My research interests are quite wide ranging but generally fall into three main areas.The first uses oral epithelial cells cultures as tools to investigate the effects of surfactants, nanoparticles and the salivary pellicle on oral mucosal cytotoxicity. More recently we have begun to develop bioengineering approaches to tissue replacement and regeneration in patients with osteoradionecrosis.The second area has been to examine exercise interventions, motivational beliefs and dietary supplementation to improve metabolic control in healthy subjects with a view to inform treatment and prevention strategies in type 2 diabetes mellitus. The third area focusses on developing teaching strategies and animated learning resources and researching their impact to empower student learners and promote inclusive practice.

I am passionate about clinical biochemistry and recognise the challenges that accompany teaching in this subject area. I try to inspire students using a blended, interactive approach, and incorporate illustrations to provide visual context to  the cellular and molecular mechanisms that occur in a variety of physiological systems, in both health and disease. I encourage students to annotate cartoon based illustrations to enable understanding of spatial and temporal elements of biochemical processes which has proved to be beneficial for both deeper learning and factual recall. Furthermore, I have developed a range of audio visual resources to compliment the teaching sessions which allow the students to revisit more challenging concepts in their own time and at their own pace. This student-led learning approach has been well received by my students as evidenced in their module feedback to me. This serves to support diversity in learning styles and thus promotes inclusive practice.