Personal Statement
My research focuses on elucidating host factors that modulate the pathogenicity and persistence of Gram-negative bacteria during urinary tract infections (UTI) and how they might be manipulated therapeutically. I was awarded a highly competitive Kidney Research UK Fellowship in 2013, allowing me to establish myself as an independent researcher at the University of Liverpool. With a background in Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Physiology, my research interests span many aspects of urogenital physiology and pathology. My lab focuses on developing new models that recapitulate the normal host-pathogen interface of the urinary tract. More recently we have mapped the transcriptome of uropathogenic E. coli and host bladder cells during infection, in a 3D human cell model that closely mimics in vivo bladder physiology.