About
As a physiologist and pharmacologist, my research uses bioengineering, advanced imaging, and computational approaches to investigate the mechanisms and consequences of cardiac arrhythmias. I hold an undergraduate degree in Chemistry, Biology and Microbiology and an MSc in Pharmacology and Biotechnology. Following positions with Professors Peter Kohl and Denis Noble at the University of Oxford, I completed a DPhil in Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (2010) as an Oxford Overseas Research Scholar and, concurrently, an MBA with Merit from Oxford Brookes University. My graduate research was focussed on developing accurate whole heart, structure-function 3D models of the heart to aide pharmacological assessment of drugs and arrhythmias. The experimental data from my doctoral work has been used to develop and validate cardiac modelling by researchers internationally and has been extensively published, sited. My post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford with Professors Gil Bub, Neil Herring and David Paterson, involved developing novel technologies to study the cardiac-neural axis and arrhythmias using high speed imaging techniques and proteomics Nature Photonics. From 2012, I led a pre-clinical study involving Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Our research has shown that HCQ can block the pacemaking “funny current” in cardiac sino-atrial nodal cells, funded externally by Oxford Innovation, UK (highly competitive funding). Heart Rhythm 2015
In 2015, I was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship in Science and Engineering, undertaking research with Professor Emilia Entcheva at Stony Brook University, New York, and subsequently received the Winston Churchill Medal. Later that year, I was awarded a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust and Royal Society, enabling me to establish my independent research group at the University of Oxford. In 2020, I was appointed Associate Professor by Oxford's Medical Sciences Division.
My research spans cardiovascular physiology, biophysics, pharmacology, and computational biology, integrating experimental and theoretical approaches from the cellular to whole-organ level. Early work focused on developing anatomically detailed 3D heart models for investigating arrhythmias and drug safety. Together with national and international collaborators, I have contributed to the development and application of novel imaging and proteomic approaches to investigate cardiac-neural interactions and arrhythmogenesis. iScience
Recently published in Cardiovascular Research, this Royal Society and Wellcome Trust-funded study reveals that lysosomes are important regulators of heart rhythm and atrial function. By uncovering lysosomal signalling pathways that influence cardiac electrical activity, the work provides a new perspective on the regulation of cardiac physiology.Cardiovascular Research Journal