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

3D illustration of a large wooden horse facing the stone wall of a fortress, representing the Trojan Horse used in the legendary battle of Troy. Researchers used a similar sneaking strategy to improve CAR T cell responses against solid tumors.

CAR T Cells Break Tumor Defenses with Trojan Horse Strategy

Line-drawing of a scientist surrounded by cartoons of lightbulbs, gears, and DNA icons to represent ideas coming from her head. Irregular shapes in dark and light blue and orange are overlayed the drawings to add color. The image represents new ideas in science communication.

A Comic-Style Poster Engages Conference Attendees

Illustration of a brown woolly rhinoceros, which resembles a modern rhinoceros but with brown fur, standing against wintry tundra.

Ancient DNA Offers Clues to the Extinction of the Woolly Rhinoceros

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

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

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

Research Resources

Podcasts

Webinars

Videos

Infographics

eBooks

Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Unchained Labs

Products

Product News

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological's Launch of SwiftFluo® TR-FRET Kits Pioneers a New Era in High-Throughout Kinase Inhibitor Screening

SPT Labtech Logo

SPT Labtech enables automated Twist Bioscience NGS library preparation workflows on SPT's firefly platform

nuclera logo

Nuclera eProtein Discovery System installed at leading Universities in Taiwan

Brandtech Logo

BRANDTECH Scientific Introduces the Transferpette® pro Micropipette: A New Twist on Comfort and Control