Staff Profiles
Ms Sylvia Dean
Contact Ms Sylvia Dean (email at s.i.s.dean@durham.ac.uk)
Biography
Sylvia graduated with a BA (Hons) in Humanities (History and English) in 1993. Her undergraduate dissertation examined the trial of Anne Boleyn in 1536. She then worked as a teacher in various secondary schools in Teesside until studying for an MA in History in 2006. Her thesis focused on gender issues within marriage which led women to use abortion and infantacide as a method of contraception during the inter-war period in Middlesbrough. In 2009, she was awarded a fellowship at the Institute of Digital Inovation to develop her business skills and commercialise a nanoparticle product. She entered the Blue Print Competition, and won the Science and Technology section and the overall best business for both 2009 and 2010. One North East sponsored her to do an MSc in Environmental Technology which she completed in 2010. Whilst working on her MSc thesis, she became interested in the legal aspects of commercialising nanotechnology.
Current Research
Sylvia became a member of the Durham Law Department in January 2011. Her current research will explore the legal barriers to commercialisation of nanoparticles. It will look at environmental and health issues concerning nanoparticles during manufacture, use of product and end of life. Sylvia will examine UK and European legislation surrounding the commercialisation of new technologies, in particlular nanotechnologies.
Research Groups
- Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law (ICCL)
Research Interests
- Commercialistion of Nanotechnologies
- Fraud
- Gender and Law
- Medicine and Law