My pronouns are she/her
I am a Principal Investigator specialising in the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning neurotropic arbovirus infection. I completed my PhD in Molecular Virology at the University of Reading in 2015 and subsequently held successful postdoctoral positions at the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, and the University of Oxford. In 2023, I was awarded a prestigious Wellcome Career Development Award Fellowship, which enabled me to establish my independent research group at the University of Oxford in 2026.
My laboratory employs interdisciplinary approaches that integrate high-resolution imaging, nanoscale virology, neurology, and multi-omics to investigate how emerging viruses invade and persist within the human brain. We aim to understand why closely related viruses produce markedly different outcomes in humans, ranging from asymptomatic infection to severe neurological disease and fatal encephalitis. Our studies utilise physiologically relevant human models developed in my group, including advanced 3D cerebral organoids and blood–brain barrier (BBB) organ-chip systems. A central focus is defining how viruses manipulate host signalling pathways and how this drives neuropathogenesis. We have a particular focus on tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), an emerging tick-borne arbovirus of growing public health concern across Europe and Asia and recently detected in the UK. Our work has identified key host and viral determinants of strain-specific pathogenicity, including IRF3, BCL2, G3BP1, and the viral proteins NS1, NS3, and NS5. Building on these findings, we are developing advanced omics, and ex vivo approaches to interrogate infection and persistence at molecular resolution. Our long-term goal is to translate these mechanistic insights into new therapeutic strategies for arboviral neurological disease.
Current Research Themes:
- Molecular determinants of neurotropic virus pathogenicity
- Mechanisms of viral persistence in the CNS
- Human brain organoid and BBB models of infection
- Host innate immune signalling during arbovirus infection
- Nano-resolution imaging and multi-omics in virology
- Translational strategies for antiviral development
News/blogs:
Professional Activities:
I currently serve as a member of the Wellcome Trust Advisory Committee for Pathogen Biology and Disease Transmission (2025–2028). I also review fellowship and research grant applications for major funding organisations, including the Royal Society, Wellcome (Early Career and Discovery schemes), and the Academy of Medical Sciences (Springboard).
