Qualifications: BSc (Hons) - PhD - PGCHET - FHEA
After graduating from University College Dublin with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology (minor in Biochemistry) I gained a PhD in Veterinary Immunology from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). Since then I have gained extensive biomedical research experience at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas (USA) and as a Marie Curie Research Fellow at QUB.
I welcome contact from prospective postgraduate students.
My teaching responsibilities lie in the Biomedical Science programme. I have designed and delivered modules across all levels of undergraduate study and I supervise students at undergraduate, MSc by research and PhD levels.
I serve as an External Examiner for the Biomedical Science BSc Programme at the University of Roehampton and their affiliated programme at MDIS (Singapore).
As a member of the British Society of Immunology, I serve as Secretary to the Immunology Teaching Affinity Group.
I also have served on external (University of Ulster) and internal (YSJU) Degree Quality Assurance Panels and I have been a member of our School's Quality Panel (SQP) since 2020.
Prior to starting at York St John University in 2015, I completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching (PGCHET) and became a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority (FHEA).
My research interests are diverse but mainly focus on identifying and quantifying human biological markers (biomarkers) including:
- Salivary and epigenetic biomarkers of stress-related conditions such as burnout (with Professor Daniel Madigan at York St John University)
- Physiological biomarkers of inflammation (e.g. CK, CRP, cytokines) in humans (with the InSPIRe research group and The i2i Soccer Academy)
- Identifying markers of exercise-induced Cancer prevention (with Dr Sam Orange, Newcastle University)
- Improving the activity of an anti-cancer drug (E09) (with Prof Roger Phillips, University of Huddersfield).
Recent publications
I serve on the Editorial Board for the British Journal of Biomedical Science and am currently a handling editor on our Special Issue on "Long Covid in Biomedical Sciences".
Previously I was Guest Editor on a Special Issue "Novel Approaches for Natural Product-Derived Immunomodulators" which includes seven articles to date.
I currently serve as an External Examiner for the Biomedical Science BSc Programme at the University of Roehampton and their affiliated programme at MDIS (Singapore).
I am a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel for the charity Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME) and am a member of an international consortium (COLAAB) with the aim of reducing animal experimentation in research and testing.
As a member of the British Society of Immunology, I serve as Secretary to the Immunology Teaching Affinity Group.
During the pandemic, I was the Resident COVID virology expert on Greatest Hits Radio (Northern Yorkshire).
