I am an Associate Member of the Oxford Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and an Associate Professor in Hematology at the University of Oxford. My research group is based at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine.

We work at the interface between discovery science and clinical translation, focusing on two areas. First, we investigate how chronic myeloid blood cancers reprogram their microenvironment to fuel progression from early to advanced stages and to evade treatments. To achieve this, we experimentally interrogate samples from patients and use preclinical models. For example, we have developed a bespoke human bone marrow organoid model that enables discovery and testing of putative mechanisms and novel therapies in the relevant human tissue environment. Second, we explore the cell biology and nuclear dynamics of megakaryocytes and platelets, focusing on their roles in cancer biology and utility for early cancer detection.

In the clinic, I care for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of chronic blood cancers for which no curative drug therapies currently exist. I lead a portfolio of clinical trials with a particular focus on emerging immunotherapies, am Deputy Chair/Chair Elect of the UK National Cancer Research (NCRI) Haematology-Oncology MPN Subgroup and actively contribute to the formulation of local and national treatment guidelines. I also participate in local/national patient forums to ensure our research efforts consider priorities set by patients, and to efficiently communicate our findings to patients and the public. As a Senior Fellow of New College, Oxford, I recruit and oversee clinical training for ~20-30 medical students per year.

My clinical and academic training was split between the UK and the US. I studied undergraduate medicine at Clare College, Cambridge, and Clinical Medicine at University College London Hospital. After completing my internal medicine training (MRCP), I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in Cancer Research to spend a year in research at Cornell, New York—which inspired me to pursue a joint academic-clinical career path. After securing a fellowship to continue this work for my PhD, I combined haematology speciality training in London with postdoctoral research at the National Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH, funded by fellowships, first, from The Wellcome Trust and then from Cancer Research UK, eventually establishing an independent research group in Oxford at the MRC WIMM in August 2019. Our overarching goal is to translate our research efforts to improve outcomes for patients in the clinic. Therefore, in addition to our discovery work funded by research charities, we enjoy collaborations with industry partners, including small/large pharma and Alethiomics—a university spin-out I co-founded in 2022.

When not in the lab or the clinic, I enjoy adventures with my husband and 3 kids and running by the river around beautiful Oxford with my small-but-surprisingly-speedy cockapoo.