Born and bred in North London, I am now a Research Fellow based at LA Biomed, in affiliation with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). I completed my PhD in Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry in 2016, which focused on the potential use of gene therapy for the treatment of Batten disease, a fatal neurological paediatric disease. I am now working on stem cell gene therapy using CRISPR-Cas9 to treat Sanfilippo Syndrome. Before completing my PhD, I worked in the areas of Stroke and Huntington's disease research and have also worked in a care capacity, with people living with Autism, suicidal ideation, dementia and HIV Associated Neurocognitive Disorder.

Produced in partnership with TEDMED

We can use genes to find serial killers, but how much more can they really tell us?

Using genetic data from over 100,000 individuals, it is now possible to do everything from finding genetic predictors of disease to tracking murderers

Produced in partnership with TEDMED

When your gut bacteria talk, your brain listens and replies

It's a conversation, one that may alter immune response and disease progression

Produced in partnership with TEDMED

A protein in your brain behaves like a virus, infecting your cells with memories

Forming a protective shell, Arc moves from neuron to neuron

💩 The human microbiome

When it comes to the microbiome, one size does not fit all. Before you go recommending one probiotic over another, you might want to read ahead.

Why scientists are transplanting artificially grown “brains” into living brains

Scientists are making major strides in growing fully functional "mini brains" -- but what are the ethics of such science?

Are hallucinations a disease?

They may be a symptom, but they are not necessarily harmful

Meet Barbara McClintock, who used corn to decipher 'jumping genes'

Through meticulous crossbreeding, she showed that DNA is far more complicated than scientists originally thought

Can exercise counteract the effects of aging on our muscles?

New research is making it seem increasingly likely – to a point

Meet Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the astrophysicist who first noticed pulsars

Through sheer tenacity she has forged a career in a male-dominated field

A rare disease offers clues to how genes affect social behavior

Williams syndrome is helping scientists understand the roots of sociality

DNA double helix illustration

Advances in gene therapy could help cure a cruel childhood illness

Most viruses make people sick. But we're learning to use them to deliver cures to complex diseases