I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Scientist (bioinformatics based) defining foetus-microbiota interactions. This is a collaborative project between the Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB), the Pregnancy and Early Life Study (PEARL) and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH). My research aims to understand how skin, gut and vaginal microbes contribute to maintaining skin and gut health during pregnancy and early life, which was the basis of my PhD doctorate where I focused on the development and dynamics of the infant skin microbiome.

I developed an extensive dry and wet laboratory work portfolio throughout both industry and academic settings. Through my academic positions, currently as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist and previously as PhD candidate and Project Scientist at the Quadram Institute, I have worked, and continue working, on multiple cohort studies including the PEARL, BAMBI and Cambodia longitudinal maternal-infant cohorts and associated microbiome data/metadata. This has afforded me with a rich understanding of maternal and early life microbiomes (skin, gut and vaginal), the factors that influence the microbiome establishment and development (with a particular focus on diet) and the resulting health outcomes. I am further exploring the functional and mechanistic capacity of these microbiota profiles, to hopefully contribute to the development of novel probiotic and live biotherapeutic interventions to treat, prevent and maintain skin and gut health during the life course.

My previous roles in industry included wet laboratory-based positions in food microbiology for Bakkavor and Moy Park, and cancer research for Cancer Research UK at the University of Cambridge within the Cancer Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL). These roles afforded me in vitro food biological, microbiological and molecular biological skills. I also have a zoology interest, which stemmed from my MSc Hons Wild Animal Biology (Royal Veterinary College and Zoological Society of London) and BSc Hons Zoo Biology (Nottingham Trent University) degrees, where I engaged in wildlife conservation, zoo management and pathology activities.