Biography
Associate Professor and Research Group Lead in Microbiology within the School of Applied Sciences at Edinburgh Napier University.
I started my academic career as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Pathology at Edinburgh University where I worked in the areas of liver cancer and transplantation failure. It was here that I developed a keen interest in understanding the underlying causes of disease pathogenesis. I then moved to the Moredun Research Institute where I worked first as a Postdoctoral scientist and then as as Senior Postdoctoral Scientist focusing my research into the effects and impacts of bacterial infections which cause reproductive complications in both humans and livestock.
I am a member of Edinburgh Infectious Diseases, the hub for infectious disease research in Edinburgh, a Council member for the Society for Reproduction and Fertility, a member of the Microbiology Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I also act as an Associate Editor on Frontiers in Veterinary Science and more recently Reproduction and Fertility.
My main areas of research are the diagnosis, immunopathogenesis and epidemiology of reproductive infections. I am particularly interested in chlamydial infections of humans and animals, and more recently neglected zoonotic causes of non-malarial fevers and livestock infertility in sub-Saharan Africa including Q-fever and Brucellosis.
My work involves collaboration with multiple partner organisations including The Centre for Reproductive Health, at the University of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian and the Institute of Biodiversity Animal Health and Comparative Medicine at the University of Glasgow in the UK where I hold a position as an Affiliated Researcher. Internationally I have developed strong links with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, The University of Nairobi in Kenya and the University of Campinas in Brazil.