Current work and interests

The overall aim of my research is to understand the consequences of metabolic disease on the brain and brain function.

Background and experience

I completed my undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences, at the University of Cambridge, specialising in Genetics with Bioinformatics. Following this I studied for my MPhil in Genomic Medicine at Cambridge’s School of Clinical Medicine, during which I worked with Professor Farooqi’s lab at the IMS-MRL to research de novo variants in early-onset obesity. I now continue to work in the field of metabolic science as a PhD student at the IMS-MRL.

Working at the IMS-MRL

I am currently researching brain microvasculature in metabolic disease.

Metabolic disorders like diabetes are associated with cognitive decline, and we hypothesise that this impact on brain function is partly mediated by microvascular rarefaction (a reduction in small blood vessel density) in the brain.

I am studying the mechanistic effects of brain microvascular rarefaction using rodent models of metabolic disease, with a combination of imaging, cognitive evaluation and 3D immunohistochemical techniques.

My hope is that this research will allow us to test and identify potential pharmacological compounds which impact microvasculature and could protect against these effects, provided by our collaborators at Novo Nordisk.