Personal Statement
For the first seven years of my career I worked as a registered nurse on a Head and Neck ward at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. In 1994 I joined the University of Liverpool (UoL), graduating in 1997 with a BSc degree (1st) in Molecular Biology, and was awarded the Molecular Biology prize for academic achievement. I undertook a PhD degree at UoL in the field of stem cells, and in 2002, was awarded a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship that enabled me to establish an independent research group. I have built my research career at UoL, directing three EU-funded international research training programmes (Kidstem, 2006-2010; NephroTools, 2011-2015; RenalToolBox, 2018-2023), and was a lead investigator in the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform Safety and Efficacy Hub that focussed on imaging technologies. I have successfully supervised 32 doctoral students and 10 postdoctoral researchers. I obtained my professorship in stem cells and regenerative medicine in 2015.

I am interested in scientific integrity and research ethics. I oppose the inappropriate use of stem cell therapies and have advocated for stricter regulations to protect patients. My concerns regarding some high profile cases have been reported in Science, the BMJ, BBC, the Telegraph, Private Eye and the For Better Science blog. I served as an expert witness in the trial of the surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, who transplanted so-called “stem cell” engineered tracheas into patients, with fatal consequences. He was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for patient abuse. As reported in UoL News, in 2024 I was chosen to receive the annual HealthSense Award in recognition of my campaigning for scientific integrity and work exposing research misconduct:
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/life-course-and-medical-sciences/news/stories/title,1482536,en.html

Research Overview
Our research addresses the safety, efficacy and mechanisms of action of cell-based regenerative medicine therapies for the treatment of renal and neurological diseases. We develop non-invasive imaging strategies to assess the behaviour of administered cells and their effects on organ function in vivo, and use advanced microscopy and histological techniques to assess cell fate and the host tissue response. We also investigate the role of biomaterials in the regulation of stem cell behaviour.