The people behind the lab results, in conversation.
Rob Dabrowski, editor of the Biomedical Scientist magazine, talks with people who run and teach in diagnostic labs. His guests include a haematology registrar who wants anticoagulant levels tested, a pathology manager who sped up a histology service and a Swansea lecturer who runs public engagement pop-ups in empty shops. Interviews end with a note that an episode can count as reflective learning for CPD.
PRESS PLAY
The IBMS Podcast is the Institute of Biomedical Science's interview series, presented by Rob Dabrowski, editor of the institute's magazine, the Biomedical Scientist. Its titles read like a walk through a diagnostic laboratory: 'S4 Episode 11: Infectious Diseases & Microbiology with Stephen Mortlock', 'S4 Episode 8: Non-Malignant Haematology with Dr Richard Burka', 'S4 Episode 7: Leadership and Management with Andrea Johnson'. The guests do the work they talk about. Dr Richard Burka, a haematology registrar and academic clinical lecturer, makes a pointed case about anticoagulant reversal. Citing local data, he says patients rarely get a reversal agent within two or three hours of arriving at hospital, so testing drug levels during those delays would slow nothing down. The catch is practical. Big labs already have analysers for factor Xa activity assays, but each drug, apixaban included, needs its own calibration, and staff need training to run the tests. Andrea Johnson manages cellular pathology and microbiology and talks about leadership, staff morale and faster histology turnaround times. She is open about why: her husband died of cancer, and improving the department for cancer patients became her driving force. Dr Jonathan Tyrrell, a lecturer at Swansea University, describes the public engagement initiative behind his award, which brings microbiology and antimicrobial resistance to the public and to school children, including through pop-ups in empty shops. Stephen Mortlock, a semi-retired specialist biomedical scientist in microbiology, has worked in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and done research in the US. He also writes historical long reads for the magazine, on subjects from the ten plagues of Egypt to insects in medicine. Rob's interviews follow a simple shape: career route first, then wherever the guest's work leads. Episodes titled with a plain number are built differently. 'Episode 10 - Special on Sustainability in the lab with Martin Farley & Sheri Scott' is presented by Ella in Rob's place. It pairs a sustainability labs advisor at UCL and King's, who gives simple tips for greener labs, with IBMS fellow Sheri Scott, who covers virtual verifications and becoming a verifier in the Lab Life slot. In 'Episode 7 - Facemasks & lockdown lifting with Helene-Mari van der Westhuizen & Zoe Andrews', a PhD researcher who dialled in while isolating after a research trip to South Africa talks about which face masks work best and future infection control, and even rates the airport hotel food. Zoe Andrews then describes Guernsey reopening after lockdown. These episodes also include an institute news bulletin covering council elections, a statement after a BBC Panorama investigation into a lighthouse laboratory, and the British Journal of Biomedical Science moving to gold open access. Interviews end with a reminder that an episode can count as reflective learning for CPD. For a first listen, the haematology episode shows how technical the show can get, and the Andrea Johnson conversation shows how personal.
Made for: Suits a listener who works in, studies or is curious about diagnostic laboratory science and wants to hear practitioners talk about their methods, careers and workplaces, with the option of logging an episode as CPD reflective learning.
What sets it apart: The profession's own institute makes it and the editor of its magazine presents it, so guests come on as colleagues and the conversation reaches the working detail of assay calibration, histology turnaround times and lab verification. The CPD note at the end of interviews makes it a professional development resource as well as a conversation.
The Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) is the leading professional body for scientists, support staff and students in the field of biomedical science.Our new podcast, IBMSPOD explores the contemporary field of Biomedical Science through a series of thought-provoking interviews with leading experts from across the profession.Each episode will feature a in-depth interview with our special Biomedical Scientist guest. The conversation will range from current affairs to the intricacies of diagnostic laboratory work, research & innovation, teaching, writing, to involvement with the IBMS, media work; as well as motivations & passions for the profession.Hosted by editor of the IBMS's monthly mag…
The clotting assay already exists; you get the harder question of who can run it.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A winding microbiology career leads into Legionnaires' disease, from sugar tubes in the lab to airborne risk.
Stephen Mortlock's path into microbiology begins far from the usual lab bench. After the military, he is travelling around Cornwall in a camper van, teaching surfing and hang gliding, until his mother tells him to stop being silly and get a job.
A measured account of antimicrobial-resistance public engagement as both public education and a research question.
Public engagement is the centre of this IBMS Podcast conversation, as Dr John Tyrrell traces a path from an early interest in microbes as organisms for studying evolution to his current work on antimicrobial resistance, microbiology and infectious diseases.
A grounded look at anticoagulant testing and urgent reversal decisions in clinical practice.
Anticoagulant reversal gives this IBMS Podcast episode a clear, practical tension: when urgent treatment is needed, can the lab help show whether a blood thinner still needs countering while delays are already building?
Andrea Johnson connects laboratory leadership with the human urgency behind cancer diagnosis and service change.
Leadership in this episode sits close to the bench, where Andrea Johnson frames laboratory decisions through the people waiting for answers. As Cellular Pathology Manager and Interim Microbiology Manager at Y Valley Trust, she talks with Rob Dabrowski about a path into…
Mushroom culture from soil to society.
Clear neuroscience for curious minds.
Plant papers, jokes, and useful uncertainty.
Weed science, from genomes to paddocks.
Biomedical careers, described from the inside.
Human stakes behind biomedical progress.
Rob Dabrowski speaks with Stephen Mortlock, a semi-retired specialist biomedical scientist and prolific Biomedical Scientist writer, about microbiology, travel, and the career turns that took him from Colchester to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Dr John Tyrrell, a lecturer in Biomedical Science, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Swansea University, traces a career that began with a Cardiff University microbiology degree and a PhD on antimicrobial resistance between 2009 and 2013.
Dr Phil Bryant, Associate Tutor in Cellular Pathology at Cardiff Metropolitan University, tells host Rob Dabrowski that only formaldehyde fixation and haematoxylin staining have stayed the same since he started in 1966.
Rob Dabrowski speaks with Richard Bucher, a Birmingham haematology registrar and academic clinical lecturer, about VITT, anticoagulant reversal, and why he now splits his time between clinical work and research.
Andrea Johnson, Cellular Pathology Manager and Interim Microbiology Manager at Y Valley NHS Trust, traces a route from Environment Agency work experience and Manchester Metropolitan University to senior biomedical science, a master’s with Ulster University, and a PhD started in January this year.
Biomedical scientist Gail Johnson describes Harvey’s Lab Tours at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, launched in 2019 after she adapted materials from the Edinburgh team.
Laura Taylor moved from an MLA position into a band five histology role after an IBMS-accredited degree and several career redirections.
Craig Baker, Biomedical Scientist of the Year 2025, describes a prostate case that reached a consultant digitally and began treatment seven days earlier.
This episode discusses sustainability in laboratory settings with experts Martin Farley and Sheri Scott, covering tips for eco-friendly practices and the role of verifiers in biomedical science.
This episode features interviews with a face mask expert and a discussion on Guernsey's post-lockdown society, along with IBMS news updates.
This episode features an interview with the new IBMS President-elect Debra Padgett about her career and the pandemic, followed by a chat about biomedical science-themed stand-up comedy with Kip Heath.
A podcast episode covering biomedical science news, an interview with a virologist about the pandemic, and a chat with a biomedical scientist who appears on TV's Gogglebox.
The IBMS podcast relaunch features interviews with award-winning dermatopathologist Guy Orchard and beer-brewing biomedical scientist Emma Victory.