Sandy Starr is Communications Officer at the Progress Educational Trust, a registered charity that works in the fields of genetics, assisted conception, embryo/stem cell research, and related areas. The charity aims to create an environment in which research and practice in these fields will thrive. Sandy is also Webmaster of the charity’s free weekly email news digest, commentary service and website BioNews.

Recently, Sandy devised the project ‘Spectrum of Opinion: Genes, Autism and Psychological Spectrum Disorders’, and oversaw the creation and piloting of a related school resource pack for use in the sixth-form classroom. The project’s objectives are to improve public and professional understanding of the respective genetic and non-genetic aspects of autism and related disorders, and to examine critically the concept of the ‘spectrum’ as used in mental health.

Previously, Sandy wrote and oversaw events and publicity for the current affairs publication spiked, and spent several years writing weekly film reviews for The Sun newspaper’s TV Mag. He has consulted and spoken on technology and regulation for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the European Commission research project RightsWatch.

He has contributed chapters on regulation and law to the books Crime and Deviance in Cyberspace, ed David S Wall, Ashgate 2009; Hate Crimes, ed Paul Connors, Greenhaven Press 2006; The Media Freedom Internet Cookbook, ed Arnaud Amouroux and Christian Möller, OSCE 2004; Spreading the Word on the Internet: 16 Answers to 4 Questions, ed Christiane Hardy and Christian Möller, OSCE 2003; From Quill to Cursor: Freedom of the Media in the Digital Era, ed Karin Spaink, OSCE 2003; and The Internet: Brave New World?, ed Dolan Cummings, Hodder and Stoughton 2002