I am passionate about projects aimed at controlling and possibly eradicating emerging transboundary diseases and I have significant experience (+7 years) working with lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV). I am highly experienced in using small animals and knowledgeable on the use of large animal models in research. I was a post-doctoral researcher at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organisation International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-INTERVAC). In that project, I looked at the viral dynamics of Zika virus and PCV2 in a porcine model. For the past few years, I have been a Senior Postdoctoral researcher at the Pirbright Institute. Here, I worked in the Arthropod Genetics Group in a project aimed at generating transgenic mosquitoes refractory to flaviviruses. I also worked in the Nidovirus Cell interactions group in coronavirus research where we were generating tools to study virus host interactions. More recently, I led the LSDV transmission studies under the supervision of Dr. Pip Beard. In this project, I am looking at the contribution of different hematophagous insects in the onward transmission of LSDV. My PhD training was in medical virology at the University of Cape Town, where I developed vaccine vectors for veterinary and human use. Prior to this, I obtained my MSc in Biomedicine from Hogskolan iSkovde, Sweden. I worked at the University of Queensland, Australia as a research assistant where I also conducted my master thesis. My project focused on unravelling the role of the immune system in nerve entrapment neuropathies using a rat model of dual nerve compression. My undergraduate training was in Applied Biology and Biochemistry and with an Honours research in Microbiology.