I studied Biomedical Sciences at the University of the West of England, graduating in 2009. I then worked for a microbiology-focused biotechnology company as Research and Development Scientist until securing a PhD position in October 2013.
My PhD at the Cardiff University School of Dentistry focused on the interactions between oral bacteria and the fungus Candida albicans in the oral cavity. I developed a biofilm model to represent the comlex multi-species biofilms commonly observed, investigated these biofilms for tissue infections after developing a 3D mucosal tissue model, and completed a clinical study to determine the bacterial microbiota associated with healthy and denture-stomatitis associated samples.

I then completed a fellowship at Cardiff University before joining the University of Bristol for a research position characterising the virulence attributes of Streptococcus pneumoniae. During the coronavirus pandemic, I was involved in a reactive project looking at bacterial secondary infections in Covid-19 positive patients.

Teaching has always been a passion of mine, and I secured a lecturer position in September 2021 and have developed as part of the Pathway 3 team to enhance teaching provision and innovation in microbiology across a number of undergradaute and postgraduate taught units.