Gavin Hubbard

My role spans the visible and the behind-the-scenes. I write press releases, policy briefs, lay summaries, and impact case studies – but I also work on communications strategy, internal communications, web development and design, and media training for researchers. I act as communications lead for the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre for Community Healthcare, and deputise for the Head of Communications.

This is a wide playing field, but I think research communications works best when strategy, content, and digital infrastructure are pulling in the same direction, and I'm happiest when I can work across all three. But if one thing ties it together, it's writing. A well-crafted sentence can carry a research finding further than a dozen meetings – but only if it's honest, precise, and written for the reader rather than the writer.

I use AI (LLMs) a lot – not just for communications, but to build tools and automations that solve practical problems for researchers and the department. I also run workshops on data visualisation, infographics, and practical AI use, and experiment with local models and retrieval-augmented generation in my own time.

Before moving into communications, I spent eight years in contract research laboratories developing assays for biologics and biosimilars – a background that still shapes how I engage with the science I now write about. I am a member of the Association of British Science Writers.