Dr Joanne Berry is a lecturer for the BA Graphic Communication and Illustration and BA Graphic Design programmes. She has extensive academic experience across Hong Kong and the UK. Before joining Loughborough University, Joanne was a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she taught on the MA and MFA programmes in Graphic Design, Art Direction, and Subject Lean in Illustration, and conducted research bridging art, design, and science. She became a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) in 2019.
Joanne holds a PhD from Birmingham City University, titled A Framework for Action and Reflection: Using Play to Understand the Relationships between Art Practice and Life Science. She also holds an MA in Fine Art Printmaking from Camberwell College of Arts (University of the Arts London), an MA in Illustration from the Royal College of Art, and a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design from Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic.
Her practice-based research explores the intersections of art, design, and biomedical science. Joanne exhibits regularly in the UK and internationally, with works held in major collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), Arts Council England (ACE), Nottingham University Medical School, and Zeiss Microscopy Labs, Munich. Since 2000, she has secured over £206K in competitive funding from organisations such as the Wellcome Trust, AHRC, EPSRC, Arts Council England, Arts for Health, and international industry partners.
A notable example of her interdisciplinary work is Hijacking Natural Systems (2012), funded by the Wellcome Trust, ACE, Derby City Council, and Derby Museum & Art Gallery. The project was nominated by the University of Nottingham for a Times Higher Education Award and recognised by the Wellcome Trust as an exemplar of arts–science engagement. Artwork from the project was later featured in the BBC4 series The Beauty of Anatomy (2014, 2017), presented by Dr Adam Rutherford.
Joanne’s research residencies include the Florence Trust (London), the Natural History Museum (NHM, London), and Lakeside Arts (University of Nottingham). From 2015 to 2019, she collaborated with scientists at the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Membrane Proteins and Receptors (COMPARE), and between 2016 and 2019, with the Biofilms Research Centre (Malmö University) and the Centre for Cellular Imaging (Gothenburg University), exploring skin as raw data through multi-photon microscopy.
Currently, Joanne is developing new artwork informed by her Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) research conducted with Dr Alex Ball, Manager of the Science Infrastructure Platforms Imaging and Analysis Centre at the NHM (2015, 2024). For 2025–2026, she has been awarded an ITSS Equipment Sharing Fund from the UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy to support continued collaboration with the NHM’s Imaging and Analysis Centre.
Between 2025 and 2030, Joanne will also contribute to DIALOG: Understanding Disorganisation – A Language-Focused Global Initiative in Psychosis, funded by the Wellcome Trust (Grant no. 314138/Z/24/Z; CAD $9.5M). Led by Principal Investigator Dr Lena Palaniyappan (Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal), DIALOG brings together an international network of researchers across Canada, the UK, Italy, Germany, the USA, and Australia. Co-applicants: Valentina Bambini (Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori di Pavia, Italy), Neil Harrison (Cardiff University, UK), Tilo Kircher (Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany), Gina Kuperberg (Tufts University, USA), Susan Rossell (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia), Krish Singh (Cardiff University, UK), and Iris Sommer (Cardiff University, UK).
As a practice-based researcher and visual artist, Joanne contributes to DIALOG’s knowledge translation workstream, creating visual data montages and art exhibitions that integrate lived experience perspectives. Her previous collaboration with Dr Palaniyappan includes the exhibition Light It Up.
Dr Joanne Berry’s research explores the intersection of art, design, and science through a framework she calls “Serious Play” (SP) — a strategy that reimagines how creativity and experimentation can shape scientific discovery. Her work examines how play can foster risk-taking, reflection, and collaboration across disciplines, enabling scientists and artists to co-create new ways of visualising, interpreting, and communicating research.
Drawing on Participatory Action Research (PAR) and reflective practice, Joanne has developed a four-stage framework for integrating play into scientific and artistic processes. This approach positions play not as peripheral or frivolous but as a central, critical mode of inquiry that transforms how knowledge is produced and communicated.
Joanne’s art–science collaborations have advanced imaging and visualisation techniques and contributed to the international STEAM agenda. Her current partnerships include the Natural History Museum, the National Oceanography Centre, and Loughborough University’s Chemistry Department, where she embeds creative inquiry within scientific research and education.
This approach is demonstrating measurable impact. As Dr. Julia Fernández-Rodríguez (Sahlgrenska Academy, Sweden) reflected:
Having an artist like Joanne conduct research in a core facility lab can profoundly influence scientific work by introducing a creative and exploratory mindset that challenges conventional approaches. Working with an artist encouraged me to rethink my methodologies, embracing experimentation and playfulness as part of the scientific process. Their ability to reimagine data visualisation and interpret biological processes through innovative, artistic perspectives significantly enriched my approach to microscopy and imaging. This collaboration cultivated a sense of curiosity and adaptability, enabling me to view scientific challenges as opportunities for creative problem-solving.
Joanne has extensive teaching experience across Graphic Design, Illustration, Printmaking, Textile Design, Drawing, and Fine Art. She has taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Hong Kong and the UK, serving as subject lead and module leader across a range of design programmes. Her teaching focuses on reflective practice, visual experimentation, and interdisciplinary collaboration, encouraging students to connect creative thinking with research and professional practice.
Current and recent modules include:
- Visual Practices (ACA143) – Module Leader
- Visualisation (ACB141) – Module Leader
- Negotiated Study (ACC140)
- Major Project (ACC141)
- MA Graphic Design and Visualisation (ACP205, ACP208)
- Narrative and Sequence (ACB142)
- Graphic Design Context (ACA140)
- Design Research Methods (ACB145)
Joanne’s research and creative practice have gained visibility through solo and group exhibitions across the UK and Europe, as well as through conference presentations and keynote addresses. Recent highlights include the 15th International Illustration Research Symposium: The Role of Technology in Illustration (Koç University, Istanbul, 2025) and the Drawing Research Forum (The Drawing Room, London, 2026). Her work has been featured in major media outlets such as The Guardian, The Telegraph, Financial Times, and BBC TV.
Her research outputs are represented in public collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Arts Council England, British Museum Library and Zeiss Microscopy Labs, demonstrating both scholarly significance and public engagement impact.
Public art commissions include:
- Blackpool Illuminations (2012) – redesign of five 1938 fluted pylons for the 100th anniversary of the Illuminations
- Millfield Sculpture Commission (2011)
- Derbyshire Moorlands (2010)
- Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust (2008)
- New Shetland Museum & Archives (2007)
Looking ahead, Joanne aims to expand her research into play as a framework for interdisciplinary collaboration, producing high-quality publications, exhibitions, and interactive outcomes. She continues to build international partnerships, pursue targeted grant funding, and mentor postgraduate researchers, embedding her practice within a STEAM-informed curriculum.
She is a member of the Drawing Research Group, Drawing Research Network, and TRACEY.
Joanne welcomes researchers interested in Participatory Action Research (PAR), interdisciplinary practice, and art practice-based research. Her work explores the intersection of art, science, and technology, with a particular focus on drawing, illustration, and Serious Play (SP) as a methodological framework.
Current PhD Supervision:
Shumei Tian
From Visible to Legible: Reframing Belonging at Leicester Square Station for London's Chinatown (Supervision team: Professor Philip Lindley, Reader John Atkin, Dr Jo Berry-Frith)
Shitong Xiao
A Visual Narrative Intervention into the Dual Marginalization of Laopiao in China (Supervision team: Dr. Xuiyan Tan and Dr Joanne Berry-Frith)