I am a Senior Lecturer, Lister Fellow, and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow (FLF) in the Manchester Evolution Reserach at Manchester (MERMan) group. My research focuses on understanding the genetic elements within microbial communities (i.e. microbiomes) and microbial pangenomes. We are particularly interested in how microbial communities are affected by the microbe-microbe interactions that occur within them and how strain-level differences between isolates affect these relationships.

I am a bioinformatician, microbiologist, and evolutionary biologist. Previously, I was an Anne McLaren Fellow (2020-3) at the University of Nottingham and a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-20) in James McInerney's research group. I conducted my Ph.D. research on the human microbiome and cystic fibrosis in the laboratory of Dr. Michael G. Surette at McMaster University as a CIHR Doctoral and Cystic Fibrosis Canada scholar. I also worked as a MSc with Dr. Dawn Bowdish, also at McMaster University, investigating the evolutionary history of a family of immune cell receptors with support from a Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

2005-10: Bachelors of Computer Science (BCS, Honours Bioinformatics), University of Waterloo, Canada

2010-12: Masters of Science (MSc, Infection and Immunity), McMaster University, Canada

2012-17: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Biochemistry), McMaster University, Canada

Canadian Society of Microbiology (CSM), 2015-present

Microbiology Society, 2018-present

Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE), 2018-present

Associate Member, Yeates School of Graduate Studies, Toronto Metropolitan University, 2021-4