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Tom Shakespeare

My primary research interests are in disability studies, medical sociology, and in social and ethical aspects of genetics. I have had a long involvement with the disabled people’s movement in UK and internationally. In the context of disability arts, I have also been active in arts and culture, and was a member of Arts Council England from 2003-2008. While at Newcastle University, I developed an interest in science communication and public engagement, and helped develop the café scientifique movement in UK and across the world, as well as promoting sci-art projects. During my five years at WHO, I helped produce and launch key reports such as the World Report on Disability (WHO 2011) and International Perspectives on Spinal Cord Injury (WHO 2013), and was responsible for the UN statement on forced, coerced and otherwise involuntary sterilization (WHO 2014). This grew my interest in disability and international development.

My primary focus is qualitative research about the lives of disabled people and the barriers that they face. I have led projects about disability and sexuality, life as a disabled child, quality of life in restricted growth. I am currently working on an ESRC funded project on social relationships in personal assistance, and on an ESRC/DFID funded project on the disability and development gap. In recent years, I have also led several small research projects on aspects of mental health recovery and wellbeing. My secondary interest is social and ethical aspects of genetics and bioethics. I have led projects about how people make ethical decisions, and about the provision of balanced information in antenatal screening. I have written books on disability and sexuality, relational approaches to disability, and genetic politics. In future, I hope to develop further work exploring disability as an international development issue, with particular emphasis on barriers to healthcare.

Disabled people don't want to be your inspiration, but if they are it's no surprise

Sep 15, 2016 15:20 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

Should we be inspired by Paralympian achievement? Commentator Frances Ryan recently counselled Guardian readers to be careful to think through their reactions to disabled superhuman athletes and academic poster boys like...

Economy

Dollar Weakens Amid Middle East Tensions and Anticipated Central Bank Decisions

The U.S. dollar softened on Friday as reports of potential peace talks between the United States and Iran lifted market sentiment, though it still remained on track for its first weekly gain in nearly a month. Ongoing...

Iran-Pakistan Diplomacy and Strait of Hormuz Tensions Push Oil Prices Above $100

Pakistani officials have confirmed that Irans Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to visit Islamabad by the weekend, according to a report by The Associated Press. The high-level diplomatic trip, which may begin as...

Gold Prices Rise Slightly but Head for Weekly Loss Amid Oil Surge and Inflation Fears

Gold prices edged higher on Friday but remained on track for a weekly decline as rising oil prices and geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran fueled concerns over inflation and prolonged high interest...

Indonesia Fiscal Deficit Outlook: Fitch Signals Flexibility Amid Middle East War Risks

Indonesia may have limited room to exceed its legal fiscal deficit ceiling of 3% of GDP without facing an immediate credit rating downgrade, according to Fitch Ratings. The agency suggests that any breach would need to be...

Japan Inflation Rises in March Amid Energy Price Surge and Middle East Tensions

Japans consumer price index (CPI) inflation increased more than expected in March, driven largely by rising energy costs linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The latest government data shows that headline...

Politics

Judge Orders Release of Family After Longest ICE Detention Under Trump Administration

A woman and her five children were released from U.S. immigration detention after more than 10 months, marking the longest known family detention during President Donald Trumps administration. The release came Thursday...

US and EU Strengthen Critical Minerals Partnership to Reduce China Dependence

The United States and the European Union are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening cooperation on critical minerals, marking a strategic move to secure global supply chains and reduce...

U.S. Army Soldier Charged in $400K Insider Betting Scheme on Maduro Capture

A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier has been charged by the Justice Department for allegedly using classified information to profit from bets on the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. According to federal...

Trump Administration Launches Civil Rights Probe into NYC Education Department Over Pro-Palestinian Educators

The Trump administration has initiated a civil rights investigation into the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), focusing on alleged discrimination linked to a pro-Palestinian educators group. The U.S....

Lebanon-Israel Ceasefire Extended as U.S. Pushes for Peace Talks

The Lebanon-Israel ceasefire has been extended for three more weeks following high-level negotiations hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. The meeting brought together Israels ambassador to Washington,...

Science

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

NASA Artemis II: First Crewed Moon Mission Since Apollo Takes Four Astronauts on 10-Day Lunar Journey

NASAs Artemis II mission launched Wednesday, marking humanitys return to crewed lunar exploration for the first time since the Apollo era. Carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, this historic 10-day mission...

NASA's Artemis II Mission: First Crewed Lunar Journey Since Apollo

NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission

The four astronauts chosen for NASAs Artemis II mission have touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the beginning of final launch preparations for the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years. NASA...

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

Technology

DeepSeek Launches V4 AI Models with Enhanced Reasoning and 1M Token Context Window

DeepSeek has unveiled preview versions of its latest open-source artificial intelligence models, marking a significant step forward in AI performance and reasoning capabilities. The new releases, DeepSeek-V4-Pro and...

Amazon Stock Rises as Meta Expands AWS Partnership for AI Infrastructure

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares climbed around 2% শুক্রবার morning after Meta revealed a major expansion of its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), signaling strong momentum in the growing artificial intelligence...

Intel Stock Surges as AI Chip Demand Drives Strong Q2 Forecast

Intel Corp delivered a bullish outlook for the second quarter of 2026, signaling a strong turnaround fueled by rising demand for AI data center chips. The company projected earnings per share (EPS) of $0.20, significantly...

Microsoft Commits $18 Billion to Expand AI and Cloud Infrastructure in Australia

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has unveiled a major investment plan worth A$25 billion (approximately $18 billion) in Australia, signaling a significant push to strengthen its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing...

Elon Musk Signals Intel 14A Chips for Tesla’s Terafab AI Semiconductor Venture

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk revealed new details about the companys ambitious semiconductor plans, confirming that the Terafab joint venture intends to leverage Intels advanced 14A chip manufacturing process....