About Me

My background in both psychology and biology has given me a deep desire to understand how the physical make up of the brain manifests in different cognitive processes, and how these are disrupted in disease states. In particular, I am drawn to investigating this within the context of psychiatric diseases. This is both due to family experiences and the many unanswered questions and currently unmet needs in terms of diagnosis and treatment. 

In my career to date, I approached this from several angles; exploring behavioural and histological phenotypes of genetic risk models, conducting pre-clinical testing of potential therapeutic treatments, and most recently examining the contribution of key neuromodulators in the striatum to learning.

I have been extremely fortunate to conduct fascinating research in the Neurobiology Research Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology on a beautiful sub-tropical island. However, I am coming to the end of my time here.

Next Career Step: Seeking Research Positions in Europe

I am aiming to build upon and expand my technical repertoire to continue pursing questions about the underlying mechanisms of key brain regions involved in various cognitive processes in both healthy and disease states.