I am currently a Moredun Fellow, having joined the Insitute in October 2019.

My major research interests are in understanding how parasites invade their host and persist long-term. My research interests bridge both basic and applied science. More specifically, I am interested in understanding parasite invasion and persistence at a molecular level, with a view towards identifying novel vaccine and drug targets. I am particularly keen to use and develop physiologically relevant in vitro models for exploring host-parasite biology. By applying genetic modification technology (such as CRISPR/Cas9), I plan to use these models as a platform for understanding parasite gene and protein function. Through understanding how parasites work, we are best placed to identify points for disease intervention.

I gained my bachelor’s degree in Zoology in 2010 from Liverpool John Moores University, which is where my interests in parasitology initially began. Following this, I completed an MPhil at Newcastle University, in which my thesis focused on characterizing microbial communities associated with healthy, stressed and diseased tropical corals.

With an interest in understanding what makes particular organisms pathogenic, I undertook a PhD at Queen’s University Belfast under the supervision of Prof John Dalton. Here, I sought to understand molecules associated with parasite virulence in the helminth Fasciola hepatica and was successful in determining parasite protease inhibitors with novel and unexpected function.

It was during my PhD that I also became exposed to vaccine trials in livestock and gained a passion for developing novel therapeutic strategies. Following my PhD in 2017, I moved to the University of Michigan to take up a position as a postdoctoral researcher in Prof Vernon Carruthers Lab, whereby I worked on multiple basic and applied research projects centered on the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Here, I established cellular processes that are essential to the parasite’s ability to persist chronically within its mammalian host. Furthermore, I developed an in vitro platform for screening compounds effective at killing chronic stage T. gondii, for which no drug currently exists, and worked as part of a collaborative project to develop reversible protease inhibitors that kill chronic-stage parasites and are able to reach difficult sites of infection (e.g. the brain).

Current Research:

Molecular basis of parasite invasion and persistence.

Development of novel intervention strategies, including novel vaccine delivery systems.