Shelby Bradford, PhD

Shelby Bradford, PhD

Assistant editor at The Scientist

Shelby is an Assistant Editor at The Scientist. She earned her PhD in immunology and microbial pathogenesis from West Virginia University, where she studied neonatal responses to vaccination. She completed an AAAS Mass Media Fellowship at StateImpact Pennsylvania, and her writing has also appeared in Massive Science. Shelby participated in the 2023 flagship ComSciCon and volunteered with science outreach programs and Carnegie Science Center during graduate school. 

Articles by Shelby Bradford, PhD

Cartoon showing a balance scale on an orange background. On the right side of the scale, a stack of books with a college graduation cap pulls the scale down. On the left, a cartoon person is adding more gold coins to the scale to try to balance the cost. This image illustrates the high cost of academic publishing that researchers experience.

Rising Publication Costs Strain Researchers

Photograph of green leaves of a crop plant. Some leaves have turned brown from an infection, but others remain bright green and healthy. This illustrates how plants use signaling molecules to warn distant cells of danger and to protect themselves.

Plant Immunity Unearthed: A Small Metabolite Kicks Off Cellular Defenses

Photograph of an older woman in an orange, long-sleeved shirt sitting on a brown couch holding her knee.

Why Do Weather Changes Cause Joint Pain?

3D illustration showing three differently colored semi-translucent cells, representing different T cell subtypes, on a black background. A purple cell is in the front on the right, a red cell is on the left, and a blue cell sits behind the red one.

T Cell Nomenclature Gets an Update

Illustration of a developing fetus surrounded by a clear fluid with a subtle yellow tinge, representing amniotic fluid.

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

A scanning electron microscopy image shows a scaffold imitating the bone surrounding the bone marrow with blood cell organoids derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (red).

A 3D Scaffold Helps Recreate the Human Bone Marrow Niche

Illustration of a scientist with short dark hair standing in a research lab in front of a screen showing gene expression data looking out of a window to see the surface of the Moon with Earth in the background. There is a microscope and centrifuge beside the researcher’s computer. Out the window, another lunar base is a lunar rover is visible. Outer space, with bright dots of stars, are seen behind Earth.

Space Medicine Brings Researchers into the Second Space Age

3D illustration of a blue dendritic cell (left) activating a red T cell (right) on a black background with more dendritic cells and T cells behind them.

A Red Blood Cell Protein Turns Dendritic Cells Tolerant 

3D illustration of a reddish pink eukaryotic cell showing its inner contents, including a red and pink nucleus, purple endomembrane system, and pink and red vesicles.

Duplicated Genes Point to an Earlier Start to Complex Life

Cartoon showing a multi-colored brainstem with different shapes along the lines that represent cell maturation.

A New Cell Atlas Helps Researchers Navigate the Developing Brain

Nine people wearing red coats sit in a small inflatable boat on the ocean in front of an Antarctic Fjord. These are guests joining in the citizen science project FjordPhyto to collect water samples to study phytoplankton.

Polar Tourists Collect Phytoplankton to Help Researchers Study Fjord Ecology

Rakesh Tiwari, a postdoctoral fellow and plant physiologist at Uppsala University, collects photorespiration measurements from plants in the Western Ghats Forest.

Trees Release Carbon Dioxide to Tolerate Rising Temperatures

Illustration of a developing fetus surrounded by a clear fluid with a subtle yellow tinge, representing amniotic fluid.
January 2026, Issue 1

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

The liquid world of fetal development provides a rich source of nutrition and protection tailored to meet the needs of the growing fetus.

View this Issue

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