Speaker Biography

After a BSc at Imperial College London (1997) I gained a PhD (2001) at the University of Cambridge, Department of Genetics, where I studied the genetic control of development in Drosophila. Following this I joined the laboratory of Prof. Leo Pallanck at the University of Washington in Seattle, where we developed several new Drosophila models of Parkinson’s disease (PD). These models provided compelling evidence that genes linked to familial forms of PD play an important role in mitochondrial homeostasis. In July 2005 I returned to the UK to start my own research group at the University of Sheffield. Continuing our work on the Drosophila models of PD we described a number of mechanisms by which these genes regulate mitochondrial dynamics as a quality control mechanism. We also identified a number of neuroprotective targets that may have therapeutic potential. In September 2015 I was recruited to the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit in Cambridge where we continue to work on the molecular and genetic analysis of mitochondrial homeostasis mechanisms relating to PD, motor neuron disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.