About
I have been Pro-Vice Chancellor and Head of the Faculty of Science and Engineering since September 2025. In the role I am a member of the University of Liverpool Senior Leadership Team, and accountable for the overall performance of the Faculty. I set strategic and operational objectives for the Faculty across teaching, research, global engagement and commercialisation, and work with leaders in the Faculty to optimise our contribution and performance. I was previously in the role of Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Impact from 2021-2025.
As a Professor of Nuclear Physics, I have secured £36M funding as PI/CoI from UKRI and industry for R+D projects in next-generation instrumentation for gamma-ray spectroscopy and imaging. I have held several leadership roles within international research collaborations, including the European AGATA nuclear physics project. I have a track record in delivering award-winning teaching and encouraging underrepresented groups into physics and have recently been appointed as the University of Liverpool EDI Chair.
I have Chaired and been a member of many external advisory boards and funding panels. I'm a Partner Director of the Board of the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials. In 2023/24 I Chaired an External Review of the STFC Technology Development Review Board, by invitation of the STFC Executive Board. In 2023 I was appointed as a a member of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Science and Technology Advisory council STAC, providing independent strategic advice to NPL on the quality, international standard and relevance of their activities. Over the past decade I have participated in many International and UKRI panels including:
(1) Large projects (STFC Project Peer Review panel, DFG German Excellence Strategy Clusters of Excellence),
(2) Fellowships (STFC Ernest Rutherford, UKRI Future Leaders),
(3) PGR (STFC Industrial CASE studentships)
(4) Interdisciplinary, Innovation and commercialisation (UKRI Cross Council Responsive mode, STFC Late stage research and development panel, STFC Early Tech development, UKRI Developing basic technologies in sensing and imaging, FCT Portugal Physics R and D projects)
(5) Global Challenge and ODA (STFC Newton Malaysia, STFC Global Challenge Research fund)
My research activities have been supported through the awards of £5M as PI and £31M as CoI for research projects to:
(1) develop algorithms to extract gamma-ray interaction position from room temperature semiconductor detectors
(2) develop novel room temperature semiconductor detectors for nuclear decommissioning
(3) develop SIGMA, which is a new germanium detector for gamma-ray spectroscopy and tracking,
(4) develop a system for quantitative imaging in molecular radiotherapy,
(5) evaluate the performance of systems for spectroscopy and imaging of nuclear fuel.
(6) develop the stopping target monitor for the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab
I also led the STFC Cancer Diagnosis Network+, a national research network aiming to develop new techniques and technologies in cancer diagnosis by bringing together physicists from the STFC community with researchers and Clinicians from other disciplines. The network organises thematic workshops and funding calls for proof of concept activities and early career researcher development.
I am actively engaged in outreach, including delivering talks and workshops at schools and public events. I am a committee member for the Institute of Physics Nuclear Physics Group. In 2018 and 2023 I published first and second editions of the book An introduction to the Physics of Nuclear Medicine, as part of the Morgan and Claypool Institute of Physics Concise series. I am also an editorial board member for the IPEM-IOP Series in Physics and Engineering in Medicine and Biology.
Prizes or Honours
- European Physical Society Applied Nuclear Physics Prize (European Physical Society, 2024)
- Teacher of the Year – Faculty of Science and Engineering (University of Liverpool Guild of Students, 2017)
- Science Award - Highly Commended (Women of The Future, 2015)
- Very Early Career Award (Institute of Physics Women in Physics Group, 2010)