Profile

I live in Cambridge but I’m originally from Scotland.  In my spare time you will find me horse riding – I started when I was very young and was an eventer as a teenager.  I’m now the Captain of Cambridge University Polo Club, which is great fun!  I also love travelling and have visited 5 of the 7 continents – I’m always looking for opportunities for adventures!  Next on my list is South America and I’m learning Spanish in preparation.

I use stem cells as a model for the human heart to try and find out the processes involved in disease of the heart such as heart failure (when your heart can’t pump blood properly around your body).  I take the stem cells and add different molecules to them and specific time points to make them turn into heart muscle cells called cardiomyocytes.  The cardiomyocytes are really cool, they beat like a real heart in a dish!  I can then use genetic editing technology to investigate what components of the cell might contribute to heart disease, or give the cells drugs to try and change how well they work.

I wake up early. I row for my college team so we’re out training very early in the morning before work.  I then cycle down to the lab for a full day of work.  This normally involves lots of cell culture, which is basically taking care of the cells I use for my experiments.  It’s almost like having a pet!  I’ll use a range of different techniques to investigate what is happening in my cells and measure lots of different things, like how they look and how they beat in the dish.  There’s also lots of data analysis on the computer and preparing presentations for meetings and talks.  I work in a big lab with lots of very clever people so there is always someone to help you if you’re having problems.  Communication and teamwork is really important in group and we all work together to help each other with our projects and discoveries.