Sonia Contera facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sonia Contera
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![]() Contera speaking in 2019
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Born | 1970 (age 54–55) Madrid
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Nationality | Spanish |
Alma mater | Autonomous University of Madrid Osaka University |
Occupation | Physicist |
Employer | University of Oxford |
Title | Professor of Biological Physics |
Sonia Antoranz Contera is a Spanish physicist. She was born in 1970. She is a Professor of Biological Physics at the University of Oxford. She also works as a senior fellow at the Oxford Martin School. Plus, she is a senior research fellow at Green Templeton College.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Sonia Antoranz Contera was born in 1970 in Madrid, Spain. She studied physics at the Autonomous University of Madrid. After that, she traveled to study in Moscow, Prague, and Beijing. She earned her PhD from Osaka University in 2000. Her supervisor there was Hiroshi Iwasaki.
Because she studied in many countries, Professor Contera speaks many languages. She can speak Spanish, English, Chinese, Czech, Russian, Danish, Japanese, German, and French.
Research and Career
Professor Contera's research uses physics and nanotechnology. She uses these fields to understand problems in biology. She is very interested in how mechanics (the study of motion and forces) affects living things. She also creates tiny materials called nanomaterials. These materials are designed to act like biological parts. They can be used in medicine, for example, to deliver medicines or help grow new tissues.
Working at Oxford
In 2003, Professor Contera started working at the University of Oxford. From 2008 to 2013, she helped lead the Oxford Martin Programme. This program focused on using nanotechnology for medicine. She was also a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Nanotechnology from 2014 to 2016. In 2017, she became the Chair of the Scanning Probe Microscopy Section. This is part of the Royal Microscopical Society.
Books and Public Speaking
Professor Contera wrote a book called Nano Comes to Life: How Nanotechnology is transforming medicine and the future of Biology. It was published in December 2019. Important science magazines like Nature and New Scientist reviewed her book. It was also talked about on BBC Radio 4. The book was later released in paperback in 2022. It was also translated into Chinese and Japanese.
Professor Contera also gives talks to the public. She speaks about how nanotechnology, physics, and biology are changing medicine. She also discusses the philosophical and social impacts of these changes. She has given talks at places like the Royal Institution of Great Britain. She also writes about how science communicates with people. She believes science has an important mission.
See also
In Spanish: Sonia Contera para niños