Sonia Contera

Contera's research uses physics and nanotechnology to understand biological problems.^[8][9] She has a special interest in the role of mechanics in biology and designs nanomaterials that mimic biological functions for biomedical applications such as drug delivery^[1] and tissue engineering.^[10] In 2003, she began working at Oxford.^[4] Contera was Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Nanotechnology for Medicine from 2008 to 2013.^[11][12] In 2014–2016, she was a Member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Nanotechnology.^[13][14] In 2017, Contera was appointed Chair of the Scanning Probe Microscopy Section of the Royal Microscopical Society.^[15]

Contera's book Nano Comes to Life: How Nanotechnology is transforming medicine and the future of Biology (Princeton University Press) was published December 2019.^[16][17] The book was reviewed by Nature,^[18] Nature Physics,^[19] the New Scientist,^[20] BBC Science Focus^[21] and was featured in BBC Radio 4 "Start of the Week".^[22] It was published in paperback in 2022, in Chinese by CITIC press and in Japanese by Newton Press.

Contera is also a public speaker on the medical, philosophical and social consequences of the science emerging at the interface of nanotechnology, physics and biology; she has spoken in forums such as the Royal Institution of Great Britain^[23] She also writes on communication and the mission of science.^[24]

• "How can nanotechnology address medical problems?", Oxford Martin School, September 20, 2012
• "How can we capture the possibilities but avoid the pitfalls of nanotechnology?" panel, Nesta UK, March 26, 2013