DrAlexandra Richardson

Alexandra (Alex) Richardson is a driven researcher working as a Research Associate within the Epidemiology and Biostatistics (EBS) and Emerging Chemical Contaminants (ECC) groups at Imperial College London. Her journey began with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Biology and Marine Biology from the University of Sydney, Australia. Following this, she moved to the United Kingdom to complete a Master of Research in Forensic Science with a focus on analytical chemistry at King’s College London. With the original plan of getting the degree and going back to Australia, Alex found herself captivated by the opportunities in the UK, where she has thrived for nearly a decade.

Her professional experience spans both industry and academia, having worked for various companies including Agilent Technologies UK Ltd. (Church Stretton), GSK plc (Ulverston), and Aptuit, an Evotec company (Oxford). However, her passion for research brought her back to academia, where she pursued a BBSRC iCASE studentship PhD at King’s College London, funded by the London Interdisciplinary Biosciences Consortium (LiDo) partnered with Agilent Technologies UK Ltd. Her doctoral studies focused on the development of a novel 3D-printed miniaturised passive sampler device to act as a surrogate for invertebrates during micropollutant bioconcentrating testing.

During her PhD, she was awarded a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellowship which allowed her to travel to Japan for two months to undertake research with the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES). With financial support from the NIHR-funded Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs) and the MRC Centre for Environment and Health. Alex spearheaded a citizen science project aimed at assessing the presence of chemical contaminants in local rivers using the passive sampler device she developed during her PhD.

Currently, Alex is immersed in a post-doctoral role at Imperial College London, where she is focused on investigating the occurrence of per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) in London's drinking water through participatory science. She is excited about the analytical challenges posed by these compounds and is committed to expanding her skill set for future fellowship applications.

Outside research endeavors, Alex has a diverse range of interests. When not in the laboratory or developing methods, you can find her on the hockey pitch, solving problems at the climbing gym, or indulging her creative side by painting small models for board games, among other eclectic hobbies she has acquired over the years.


Recent publications

Fady PE, Richardson A, Barron L, Mason AJ, Volpe R, Barr M. Biochar filtration of drug-resistant bacteria and active pharmaceutical ingredients to combat antimicrobial resistance Scientific Reports.

Yoder LE, Egli M, Richardson AK, Brooker A, Perkins R, Collins CMT, Cardwell JM, Barron LP, Waage J. Dog swimming and ectoparasiticide water contamination in urban conservation areas: a case study on Hampstead Heath, London Science of the Total Environment.

Barron, L.P., Richardson, A.K., Hein, W. (2024). Chemical pollution in water: Scalable and intersectional opportunities for the analytical and social sciences. One Earth.

Richardson, A. K., Irlam, R. C., Wright, H. R., Mills, G. A., Fones, G. R., Stürzenbaum, S. R., Cowan, D. A., Neep, D. J., & Barron, L. P. (2022). A miniaturized passive sampling-based workflow for monitoring chemicals of emerging concern in water. Science of The Total Environment.

Richardson, A. K., Chadha, M., Rapp-Wright, H., Mills, G. A., Fones, G. R., Gravell, A., Stürzenbaum, S., Cowan, D. A., Neep, D. J., & Barron, L. P. (2021). Rapid direct analysis of river water and machine learning assisted suspect screening of emerging contaminants in passive sampler extracts. Analytical Methods.