Dr Simon Cameron is a senior lecturer in microbiology and bioanalytical chemistry within The School of Biological Sciences and The Institute for Global Food Security. Dr Cameron joined the School in 2019 as a Vice Chancellors Fellow and in 2025 was appointed to the role of Director of Education for Postgraduate Taught Studies.

Career Path and Advice

Tell us about your research and how your career has progressed?

Human milk is arguably humanity’s universal food. Given this, however, surprisingly little is understood about it. My research group in the School is really interested across microbiology and mass spectrometry particularly with small molecules and we're particularly interested in human milk microbiology. This covers the bacteria and other microbes that live within human milk and are passed to the newborn through breastfeeding and other ways of consuming human milk. We particularly work with donor human milk banks to better understand donor human milk for those babies who can't receive their mother's own milk and to understand better ways that we can use donor human milk in healthcare.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?

I think the best and most rewarding thing about my job is the people that I get to work with. The students that are in my research group from undergraduate and post-graduate students doing research projects, to the PhD students and people who work with us as post-doctoral researchers. Working with those people, and our broader network of collaborators, in trying to push the boundaries of what we know about human milk and (hopefully) translate that into broader societal benefit is an incredible privilege to have.

What advice do you have for an aspiring individual hoping to pursue a career in your field?

With the caveat that everyone’s career will be different, what I have found works for me is to try and do things that you are reasonably good at and which you find extremely interesting. This is a fairly good foundation for resilience which I think is essential in all careers, and especially in scientific research.

About Simon

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself?

I’m an FA qualified football referee but it has been many years since I’ve subjected myself to refereeing a game. Beyond that, my main joys are found in spending time with my family, working on our house and garden, and reading.

What is the best advice you have received or quote that you live by?

When I get the bus to work, the route goes past an Ernest Hemingway quote (at least that who it’s attributed to) spray-painted onto the side of a building that resonates with me: “Creativity, like society, thrives when the individual elements fit within a bigger picture”. I think this is very appropriate for scientific research as we often under-appreciate the level of creativity needed to push the boundaries of our understanding, and because it is important to remember that we don’t work in isolation from others, and society more broadly.

Who inspires you?

Too many people to list without the risk of missing some. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have worked with the people that I have over the last 15 years or so in research and would hope that I am a product of those relationships.