Biography

I completed a degree in Biological Chemistry and subsequently a PhD at the University of Sheffield with Prof. John Haycock. In 2008 I moved to Switzerland to take up a postdoctoral research position with Prof. Marcus Textor in the Department of Materials at ETH Zurich. During  PhD and postdoctoral studies I used chemical and topographical patterning surfaces to produce 2D and 3D cell culture platforms to explore and control cell behaviour at the singel cell level. Through the development of these novel platforms I was able to reveal the effect of dimensionality, cell shape and environmental cues on polarity and division.

In 2012 I moved to Swinburne University of Technology, initially funded by a fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation, to work with Prof. Sarah Russell. My research centres on the functionalisation of substrates to mimic cell-cell interactions and individually present proteins to developing T cells. By combining microfabrication, imaging and biological assays I hope to provide new insights into the mechanisms controlling immune cell fate decisions.

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