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

Conceptual illustration of cancer research showing scientists conducting research. A pink cell, microscope, test tube rack, and DNA strand are pictured.

Radiotherapy Causes Genomic Changes in Breast Tumors

Conceptual illustration showing a cancer cell with pink proteins and violet growths on the left and an orange DNA helix stretching across the image to the top right corner.

Genetic Variability Affects How Tumors Respond to Immunotherapy

Photo of a woman with straight dark hair looking fatigued lying in bed with a grey blanket covering her.

Immune Markers Help Identify Subgroups of ME/CFS Patients

Illustration of the profile of a human head, with the top of the head opened up to show a pink brain. A worm is standing up inside of the brain, with a string of musical notes coming from it.

What Causes an Earworm?

3D illustration of green DNA wrapped around blue histones on a grey background.

3D Genome Rewiring Alters Gene Expression in Cancer

3D illustration of blue neurons with dendrites extending across the image and overlapping. Several cell bodies of the neurons in the center of the page are highlighted in yellow, red, and orange to depict neurodegenerative pathology.

Alzheimer’s Disease Affects Tissues Beyond the Brain

Illustration of multiple viruses, each a different color.

The “Virus Hunter” Who Advanced Public Health, One Tool at a Time

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NIH Scientists Issue ‘Bethesda Declaration’ to Protest Research Politicization

3D illustration of a green virus with lighter and darker green receptors in focus on the right of the image. Three more viruses are out of focus on the left.

Preparing for Disease X in a Changing World

Illustration shows Hanne Ahola, a cell biologist at the University of Helsinki, looking in horror at the liquid waste flask that she just dumped her cells into. She is wearing a lab coat, gloves, and has blond hair.

A Moment of Distraction Caused Cellular Destruction

3D illustration of dark blue tumors surrounded by light blue organ tissue. Dark blue monoclonal antibodies with gold tips are descending down from the right to attach onto the tumors.

A Bacterial Signaling Molecule Lends Tumors Drug Resistance

Illustration showing Ushma Neill talking about student housing in a board meeting (left), updating summer programs and courses (middle), and sharing advice to a mentee (right).

An Accidental Career Path into Academic Administration

Image of a man in a laboratory looking frustrated with his failed experiment.
February 2026

A Stubborn Gene, a Failed Experiment, and a New Path

When experiments refuse to cooperate, you try again and again. For Rafael Najmanovich, the setbacks ultimately pushed him in a new direction.

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