Meet our Team

My interests span science, religion and psychical research (which I see as forming a bridge between them). All three activities date back to my undergraduate days at Cambridge , where I read mathematics and was later a Fellow at Trinity College , and all three fall within the remit of the SMN. My professional area of research is cosmology – for my PhD I studied the first second of the universe under Stephen Hawking – and includes such topics as the early universe, dark matter and the anthropic principle. In 1985 I moved to London University, where I am now Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy at Queen Mary. I have a long-standing interest in the relationship between science and religion, giving frequent talks in this area, and was recently awarded a Templeton grant to organize a series of conferences on the evidence for cosmological fine-tuning. This has led to a book, entitled “Universe or Multiverse”, which I edited. I have been a member of the Society for Psychical Research for some 30 years, serving as its President in the period 2000-2004. My approach to the subject is mainly theoretical: I’m particularly keen to extend physics to incorporate consciousness and associated mental and spiritual phenomena. The SMN is unique in being broad enough to accommodate all three of my activities and I’m delighted to be currently serving on the Programming Committee.

Andrew Powell was educated at Trinity College Cambridge where he gained Distinction in Medicine. His clinical medical training at St Thomas’s Hospital, London, was followed by specialist psychiatry and psychotherapy posts at the Maudsley Hospital. Andrew’s first consultant and academic appointments were at St. George’s Hospital and Medical School, London. After eleven years, he moved to Oxford as consultant and honorary senior lecturer at the Warneford Hospital and University of Oxford until his retirement from the NHS in 2000.

During the ‘80s, Andrew served on the Council of the SMN, during which time his earlier training in psycho-analytic and group-analytic therapy broadened to include psychodrama, spiritual healing and transpersonal psychology. In 1999 he was elected Founding Chair of the Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK.

Andrew is co-editor of Spirituality and Psychiatry and Spirituality and Narrative in Psychiatric Practice: Stories of Mind and Soul. He is author of the companion volumes, The Ways of the Soul. A Psychiatrist Reflects: Essays on Life, Death and Beyond and Conversations with the Soul.

Formerly a neurochemist, now a therapist and musician, Di has served on the Network Council for nearly fifteen years, including two months last Summer as acting chairman. She is an enthusiastic proponent of openminded science and suspicious of New Age beliefs, but loves the Network for its diversity and the informal networking known as partying!

I was born in Brazil and came to the UK in my twenties. Here I married, and brought up my three boys, now all grown up. Throughout my adult life I worked in a variety of industries and in my 40’s went back to Psychology – studied in Brazil – and retrained in psychotherapy. My interests are all connected with my passion for life and living and I see human beings as an expression of a meaningful Universe. I currently run the London local group of the SMN.

Marilyn Monk is an academic research scientist in the fields of molecular biology, early development and cancer. She is Emeritus Professor of Molecular Embryology at UCL London and, previously, Honorary Professor at University of Melbourne, and Adjunct Professor at Monash University in Australia. Her research covers DNA replication and repair in bacteria, cell signalling and aggregation of slime mould amoebae, and gene expression and its regulation by epigenetic modification in mammalian development, Among her discoveries are mechanisms of epigenetic programming of gene expression, deprogramming and re-programming in development, epigenetic environmental adaptation (Lamarckian inheritance), and embryonic gene expression in cancers. Her group developed a wide range of single cell molecular techniques to study gene expression, gene modification, and gene mutation at the sensitivity of the single cell. Clinical applications include early diagnosis of genetic disease, stem cells and regenerative medicine, and a search for a possible cancer vaccine targeting embryonic gene expression in cancers. In addition to her scientific career, she has a longstanding interest in the arts, psychology and mysticism. She is qualified as a Psychosynthesis Counsellor and an Alexander Technique Teacher. Marilyn has been a member of SMN since the 80’s, a member of the SMN Board for 7 years, and a regular contributor to the SMN review.

In everyday life I’m a senior producer in the BBC Radio Science Unit, where I’ve worked for 20 years. I joined the Beeb with a Geology degree from University College London, where I spent more time than I should staging student plays and operas. Most of my broadcasting has been for World Service, but I do a lot on Radio 4 too. It’s mostly conventional science news and features, but I try where I can to include deeper aspects of cosmology, the nature of consciousness, spirituality and the interface between science and religion. For example, I made three features on science and religion based around the Templeton- sponsored ‘Science and the Spiritual Quest’ conference last October. I am an active member of ‘The Study Society’ where I learnt meditation and study the non-dualistic or Advaita system of philosophy. I also enjoy the countryside and its wildlife, archaeology and pottering around my large garden in Kent.

Professor John Clarke BA, MA is a Vice-President of the SMN, having been on the Board of Directors and Chair of the Board, and a long-time member of the Network. He has taught philosophy at various universities abroad and in the UK, and retired some years ago as Professor in the History of Ideas. His most recent book, The Self-Creating Universe: the Making of a Worldview, is a study of emergentism as a way of bringing science and spirituality together in a philosophical synthesis.

Paul lectures in personal and professional development, entrepreneurship, electronics and business management, predominantly to postgraduates at the University of Plymouth, after having been a research physicist for many years. His current research is in creativity and break-through problem solving both for the individual and organisations. He gives talks around the world and is a regular judge for international innovation competitions. He also runs an educational consultancy. He always looks for opportunities to incorporate the spiritual aspect in his research talks, workshops and teaching.

He has a very great interest in all areas of education and with his wife Catherine, jointly ran the original Network student ‘Wider Horizons’ course, for many years. He has been active in the Network for over forty years, since meeting George Blaker and Peter Leggett as an undergraduate, and attending the very first Wider Horizons course. A few years later he became a trustee of the SMN, at George Blaker’s request, and has been until summer 2015, when he switched roles to be chairman.

George Blaker, a founder of the SMN expressed the purpose of the organization : To win greater acceptance by science and medicine of man’s spiritual essence; to show that this is wholly consistent with current knowledge of the physical chemistry of his physical body. For many years this has been my life work, expressed through my writing and lecturing. I hold advanced degrees in Astronomy and in Geophysics. For twenty years I worked in the oil and gas industry as a specialist of the Earth’s gravity and magnetic field. Other interest are  the human biological field, the Gaia Theory and Gnostic Christianity. I am also a practitioner of non-contact healing and live in Aberdeenshire on four acres which is becoming a lush bio-diverse garden. I am the co-author (with Andrew Glazewski) of Harmony of the Universe and science fiction novels Gaia’s Children and Immortality Machine. Currently the Web Content Editor for the SMN website and co-editor of the Network Review.

For more information see my website: paulkieniewicz.co.uk

Nicholas is a Chartered Accountant and member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. He has many years of experience in venture capital and corporate finance & structure and has acted as finance director for a number of client companies. He is a partner in Robert Fraser & Partners (2000 – to date), a boutique corporate finance house where he has been involved in the organization of finance, corporate structure and management of marine, power, management consultancy, hotel and media projects. He is the CFO of the Be Energy Group of companies (2010 – to date), which is an environmentally restorative group of companies, using a triple bottom line basis of operation which combines profitability, social justice and environmental sustainability. He is also a founder of web based companies Positive TV and Earth 2 which provides a platform for cutting edge technologies for a sustainable future.

Nicholas is very interested in religion and philosophy and has always been interested in the relationship between science and spirituality; this is what attracted him to the SMN.

Director of the Scientific and Medical Network from 1986-2000. He is now Programme Director and continues to edit Paradigm Explorer.

He is author and editor of over a dozen books, including ‘Survival: Death as Transition’, ‘Resonant Mind’, ‘Radical Prince: the Practical Vision of the Prince of Wales’, ‘Science, Consciousness and Ultimate Reality’, ‘A New Renaissance’ and most recently ‘A Quest for Wisdom’ and a book of poems, ‘Better Light a Candle.’ He is a Fellow of the International Futures Forum, Founding chief executive of Character Scotland, and former President of Wrekin Trust and the Swedenborg Society. He was educated at Eton and the Universities of St Andrews and Cambridge. After a spell in merchant banking, he spent a number of years teaching modern languages and philosophy at Winchester College.

Prior to joining the Scientific and Medical Network Andrew was been in the print industry, having worked in the production and sub-editing department for a leading UK consumer magazine publisher for the previous ten years. He has also had event organising experience, booking and facilitating weekend meditation retreats and workshops in London. With an educational background in the humanities and a Masters degree in Education and Politics, Andrew has maintained a keen interest in philosophy, science and the latest research into consciousness, and in 2017 he completed a two-month online course through The University of British Columbia on the Science of Religion. Originally from Auckland, New Zealand, Andrew has lived in the United Kingdom for over 15 years and now holds dual citizenship in both countries.

Chiara is from Italy, has a PhD in literature, and over 10 years of administrative management, project management and sales and operations management experience. She has taught at university level and her most recent job was project managing English courses for a language school. She works 4 days a week at present. Due to Chiara’s direct experience, she will also support some of the schools & university outreach e.g., the Speaker Service. Chiara is thus our internal face, and will most likely be the person you will have spoken to if you phoned the office. However, Chiara is expecting her second child and will be on maternity leave for about six month from October 2017.

Jessica Corneille is a research psychologist specialised in spontaneous spiritual awakening experiences. Finding herself at the intersection where science and spirituality meet, her mission is to challenge the default pathologisation of these experiences by helping to inform and encourage mainstream psychology to look beyond the current designated spectrum of ‘normality’, to encompass the transpersonal as something that is intrinsic to the human experience. Jessica is also the communications coordinator for the Scientific and Medical Network, in charge of all things marketing, press and PR. She is also a certified Kundalini Yoga teacher and Extinction Rebellion activist and in her free time, enjoys practicing embodied movement and ritual, reading, spending time in nature, slacklining, playing her hand pan and mixing music on her inherited Technics 1210s.

Louise Livingstone is the Director of the Heart Sense Research Institute and Co-Founder of the Centre for Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred. She has a PhD from Canterbury Christ Church University and an MSc in Holistic Science (with distinction) from the Schumacher College, Devon. Her research explores the heart’s role in navigating conflict; drawing on discourses including transformational learning, depth psychology, holistic science, cultural history, esoteric wisdom and religious philosophy.

I am currently an MSc student at the University of Oxford reading for Psychological Research; my personal bio can be found at www.nikolaybpetrov.com. My primary role within the Scientific Medical Network is as a content manager for the Galileo Commission project and occasionally assisting with email marketing and web design across different SMN projects.

Armando is a passionate software programmer with a wide range of skills and a flair for scouring systems, to find bugs and set them free. He has the ability to dive into an existing project, quickly comprehend the structure and how different parts interact with each other, and see ways of improving and building new features. “Optimize” is his favourite word!

As an open-source developer who cares a lot about free software, he contributes in various ways. Offering support by helping developers and users understand and implement software, forms part of his daily routine.

He has an irksome sensitivity to spelling and typographical errors, which he puts to good use as a proofreader. Be it technical documentation, books, articles or menus, they can all benefit from some loving attention.

Away from the keyboard, he enjoys listening to trance & electronic music and loves watching movies that have a meaningful story to tell. As a budding permaculturist, looking at his surroundings in a more holistic way has changed his understanding and way of looking at nature.

Spending time with his wife and just being together is definitely on his top list of favourite activities.

Richard Irwin is an entrepreneurial and professional director, consultant and IT Due Diligence practitioner with a passion for reconciling science with spirituality (see danceineternity.com), who also composes and arranges music (see hymnswithoutwords.com). Richard was an Internet pioneer in the 1990’s, writing what was possibly the first on-line hotel reservation system in 1995. The technology he built was used by companies such as Travelocity and Lastminute.com for hotel availability for many years. Since 2005 he has worked as a technology due diligence consultant providing strategic reviews of company ICT systems and technology.

Richard has responsibility for driving forward the SMN’s new web strategy.

Jerome is a chartered accountant and consultant. He’s author of ‘Life on the Line’ about the first half of his nearly three-year solo round-the-world motorcycle trip. He had many extraordinary experiences he couldn’t explain at the time e.g.; a local farmer knew “you’ll find your wallet” over 130 miles of Texan Interstate when it was sucked out of his unzippered pocket; Rosa, his Mexican ex-girlfriend, knew he was upset from 400 miles away; he had an OBE at 80 mph in Patagonia; and a feeling of foreboding saved him from crashing on a bridge with missing steel plates in Madagascar, and falling into a chasm around a blind corner in Rwanda.

His favourite thought of the whole trip was: ‘how many atoms are needed for consciousness?’

Born in India and educated at the universities of London, Sussex and Oxford, Dr. Edi Bilimoria presents an unusual blend of experience in the fields of science, arts and philosophy.

In science and engineering, Edi has worked as a Consultant to the petrochemical, oil and gas, aerospace, transport, and construction industries. He has been Project Manager and Head of Design for major innovative projects such as the Channel Tunnel, London Underground systems and offshore installations.

A student of the perennial philosophy for some fifty years, Edi has given courses and lectured extensively in the UK, and internationally in California, The Netherlands, India and Australia. He worked as Education Manager for the Theosophical Society in Australia developing study courses and study papers, researching, and lecturing. Additionally, he supervised the Campbell Theosophical Research Library, the National Media Library, the National Members Lending Library, and the development of the website.

His written work has been published extensively in the fields of science, engineering and the esoteric philosophy. His book The Snake and the Rope was awarded the Network prize in 2008. In 2023, his work, Unfolding Consciousness consisting of four volumes, was awarded the SMN’s Grand Prize. He is deeply committed to the SMN mission.

Joan is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at York St John University, teaching Research Methods on the Masters programme, and supervising doctoral students.  She is particularly interested in exploring the ontological and epistemological contexts within which approaches to research are located.  This has led to her taking an active interest in the phenomenon of consciousness, which, to quote Christian de Quincey, is ‘our deepest mystery and our most intimate reality’.

Joan, in collaboration with colleagues from both western and eastern cultures, are researching different ways of understanding consciousness. This also leads to a meaningful dialogue about various interpretations of science and spirituality, the relationship between them, and the significance of this discussion for the ontological and epistemological foundations of social and educational research. She draws on a wide range of disciplines, including quantum physics, biology, transpersonal psychology, and diverse spiritual traditions, to inform her research.

Purpose: To inspire people enhancing their life: To develop, implement  and promote, methods, knowledge, products and solutions which enhance self awareness, open minded, well-being,  and quality of life. To help people know and better understand their whole-selves, their relationships, their purpose, empowering them to improve their health, well-being and potential, and to achieve their goals, so enjoying a longer, healthier, happier enhanced fulfilled and meaningful life.

To contribute to global mind change and promote a new paradigm that enhances mainstream science to include consciousness, and spirituality and creates bridges between business and values, between conventional medicine and integrated holistic health, and inspires people to be more open minded and enjoy meaningful life.

Entrepreneur, established and managed several companies (one public in NASDAQ one in the London Stock Exchanged and 3 private, and software incubator which created tens companies.) in the areas of software, health, psychology and well-being.

Founder of www.tohealth.com and MindLife.net and Managing Trustee of an educational charity help2helptrust.com.

Educated at Trinity College Dublin and the Kings Inns, Jacqui spent two decades working in business before realising an earlier ambition in being called to the Irish bar in 1987. Jacqueline runs the SMN Irish Group and since joining the Board has accepted the portfolio for national and local groups.

Her reasons for joining the Network:

“I am an enthusiastic member of SMN because I have found that its academic range and its ethos exactly correspond to my personal intellectual interests and approach. I have found within it a milieu which combines intellectual rigour with openmindedness and good fellowship, almost a spiritual home.”

Dr Natalie Dyer, PhD, is a Research Scientist with Connor Whole Health at University Hospitals, studying the therapeutic effects of integrative medicine practices, including yoga, acupuncture, music therapy, meditation, and energy medicine. She is also the President of the Center for Reiki Research, where she conducts and educates the public about Reiki research. Natalie completed her Doctorate in Neuroscience at Queen’s University and Postdoctoral Fellowships in Psychology at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School. She has published many scientific papers and book chapters and has presented her research to diverse audiences around the world. Natalie is also an energy medicine practitioner and teacher specializing in Reiki and North American, European, and Tibetan shamanic practices.

Website: drnataliedyer.com

Laurel Waterman is a doctoral student in Curriculum and Pedagogy, Wellbeing Emphasis, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on transformative education about consciousness for wellbeing. She specializes in narrative inquiry research and is working to popularize participatory and post-materialist paradigms in the field of education and educational research. She holds an MA in Adult Education and Community Development from OISE, and has been teaching narrative non-fiction writing in the Professional Writing and Communication program at the University of Toronto, Mississauga since 2009.

Alice Letts graduated this year with a BA in Philosophy at the University of York, and has now begun her masters at Durham University studying Philosophy. Her research interests include the Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Mind (particularly debates within consciousness studies) and Ethics. During her masters, she will be working on phenomenology and sciences of mind, aswell as virtue ethics and conceptual engineering. Her main research will focus on Christian ethics in comparison with contemporary ethics and their congruity with the notion of ‘self-love.’ She hopes to continue her research after her masters into the philosophical significance of religious/spiritual beliefs, and potentially provide a defence for religious belief using a cosmopsychist framework of consciousness.

I am a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Greenwich University, specialising in adult development. I have recently written a book called ‘Development through Adulthood‘, published by Palgrave Macmillan. I help out with marketing and communications for the Scientific and Medical Network. The Network provides a forum where I can discuss both scientific and spiritual ideas in an atmosphere of friendliness, criticality and open-mindedness. I believe that science is brilliant but limited, and that where its limitations are reached, we find that mystical and spiritual ways of being and knowing have their niche in the search for Truth. I meditate regularly, enjoy spiritual dance practices, and find sustenance in silence and prayer. I have co-edited a book with David Lorimer entitled A New Renaissance: Transforming Science, Spirit and Society, published by Floris Books. The material within the book covers many of the areas that I find fascinating: the nature of mind and consciousness, the question of what it means to be spiritual, and the nature of modernity and the ‘transmodern shift’ that we are currently experiencing.

Natalie is a Webinar host and IT support person for the SMN. She is also a Hypnotherapist practicing Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT), specialising in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). She set up her own practice in 2020, www.nataliemears.co.uk

Natalie is a Public Health professional with a MSc in public health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, a first class honors degree in Psychology from UWE Bristol, and a decade’s worth of experience in public health including NHS, World Health Organization, local authorities and corporate settings. Natalie has a wide variety of experience in public health including sexual health, mental health and suicide prevention. 

Janine is a lawyer, mediator and mentor. Formerly she was a partner of law firm Slaughter and May, Head of its Financial Services Unit and Visiting Fellow in Organisational Psychology at Nottingham Law School. Janine is the founder of the charity TalkingWorks which brings mediation skills into schools, and now advises social enterprises particularly those with a focus on education, sustainability, conflict resolution and mental health. Since 1999, Janine has been a trustee of the Scientific and Medical Network Charitable Trust and became Chairman in 2006.

Since becoming the first woman CEO in her sector more than 30 years ago, Oonagh has worked tirelessly with boards in the public, private and charitable sectors to deliver results with love and integrity for all. Her experience has shown that boards who govern well create more shared value for all stakeholders. Oonagh is a passionate advocate for business as a force for good, enabling a world where people can thrive across society; an ethos that is evident through her inspirational career.

Adam had a career in finance and investment. He has been a director at a number of leading City investment houses and in that time managed a variety of domestic and international funds (including award-winning). He also leads the development of a number of new funds in the UK.

He has held a long term interest in complementary and alternative medicine, Bohmian dialogue and the work of Carl Jung