Associate Head of School (Medicine), Principal Lecturer (Immunology)
I am a T-cell immunologist focusing on immunometabolism in the context of immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID) and cancer. I am passionate about sharing research ideas and interests through teaching and public engagement.
Teaching and supervision
I am a passionate educator delivering immunology content across Medicine and Biomedical Sciences courses. I am also the lead for Phase 1 (Campus-based delivery) of MBChB Medicine based in the School of Medicine. This is a role that gives me oversight of medical sciences curriculum delivery and allows me to work closely with a wonderful, diverse, and inspiring team.
I taught several Biomedical Sciences, Pharmacy, Medicine and Surgery courses before joining University of Sunderland. I hold a PGCE in Secondary Science which gives me a strong understanding of the prior learning our undergraduates were exposed to in schools.
Research interests for potential research students
- Chronic inflammation and immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID) with a focus on rheumatoid arthritis
- Immune and stromal cell metabolism
- T-cell recognition of antigens
- Cellular therapies for IMID and cancer
Research
My group is currently undertaking funded post-doctoral, PhD, and undergraduate projects looking at:
- Metabolic enhancements for tolerogenic dendritic cell therapy, towards improved efficacy in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.
- Metabolic enhancements for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, towards improved efficacy in solid and haematological malignancies.
- The role of cytokines in metabolic priming of adaptive immune responses.
- Lymphocyte biology
- Antigen processing and presentation
- Metabolism
- Stromal cell biology
- Chronic inflammation
- Immune-medicated inflammatory diseases (IMID)
- Cellular therapies
I completed a BSc (Hons) in Medical Microbiology and Immunology at Newcastle University before embarking upon a Nuffield Foundation-funded four year PhD at the same institution as part of the Oliver Bird Rheumatism Programme. This incorporated an MRes in Medical and Molecular Biosciences and culminated in a thesis entitled ‘T-cell recognition of proteoglycan aggrecan, a candidate autoantigen in inflammatory arthritis'.
I carried out postdoctoral research investigating antigen presentation and CD4+ T-cell responses in the human rheumatoid arthritis joint and in the cystic fibrosis lung, and continued these research interests as a Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences at Northumbria University.
In 2014, I moved to University of Birmingham as a Research Fellow in Rheumatology and was promoted to Lecturer in Inflammation and Ageing in 2017.
I came to University of Sunderland in time for us to welcome our first cohort of Medical students in 2019.
Throughout my career, I have worked with the Centre for Life in Newcastle upon Tyne delivering diverse public engagement programmes to school groups and the public.
I hold a PGCE in Secondary Science.
