My current role
I was elected Governor representing the Patients' Constituency in July 2024, commencing my first three-year term in office. With a strong dedication to advancing healthcare quality, I am committed to representing the interests of patients and ensuring that Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) is responsive to their needs. My aim is to guarantee that patients have a positive and high-quality experience during their time in the hospital, while also ensuring that the hospital operates smoothly and efficiently.
I'm a researcher in organ transplantation at the University of Cambridge, bringing with me experience acquired through active involvement in various research endeavours aimed at enhancing patient outcomes. I specialise in developing and validating innovative models for organ transplantation, with a particular focus on understanding the complex mechanisms of ischaemia-reperfusion injury, pioneering approaches in xenotransplantation, and investigating the functionality and immune response of regenerative cellular therapies, which are crucial for their clinical application. These multidimensional efforts converge towards advancing the fields of organ transplantation, regenerative medicine, and cancer treatment, with the goal of improving patient care and driving medical innovation forward.
Also, I’m a PhD candidate working on developing a pre-clinical model for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and providing consultancy work to biotech companies, specialising in experiments to assess the safety and effectiveness of pharmaceutical compounds.
Previous history
Since 2015, I have been employed at the University of Cambridge. In my previous research, I worked on a range of projects aimed at understanding how mitochondrial metabolism changes in myeloid cells in the context of chronic inflammation. The main goal was to modulate mitochondrial function and cell metabolism of myeloid cells to reduce secondary neurological damage and slow down the accumulation of disability in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS).
We sought to comprehend how myeloid cells interact with the central nervous system, influencing tissue healing and functional recovery through mechanisms such as neurogenesis and reduced scar formation.