Following an Honour's degree in Physiology from the University of Otago in New Zealand, I moved to the UK to carry out my PhD studies with Professor Susan Ozanne at the University of Cambridge, graduating in 2009. After a post-doctoral position with Professor Jonathan Seckl at the University of Edinburgh, I moved to the University of Manchester in 2011. A Fellowship from the British Heart Foundation in 2015 enabled me to establish my independent research group within the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre. In 2021, I was appointed as a Lecturer in maternal and fetal health.
Our research aims to better understand how maternal health and disease impact upon the development and function of the placenta, the key organ that regulates fetal growth. A major aim is to develop rational intervention strategies to improve outcomes for both mother and baby in complicated pregnancies, using a range of models to study the biology of cellular signalling pathways through to whole body physiology.