Profile

I live in Cardiff with my fiance, we have two cats, Peter and Peggy who we adopted in lockdown. Peter and Peggy have grown up a bit now as you can see in the photo below.

My favourite food is Italian, pizza, pasta, all of it! I love to watch Parks and Recreation and during lockdown I have started to watch Friends. I am a member of a netball team and in my spare time I like baking, Peter the cat has been known to steal cakes, biscuits and scones, so I have to be careful!

In my job I am a brain scientist and a science communicator. Here I am in Cardiff talking about brain cells or neurons, the teeny tiny cells that make up your brain.

I work to help people who are living with brain diseases. My work is normally with people who are affected by a genetic brain disease called Huntington’s disease.  I work with them and their families to see if we can make things a bit better.

My research has looked at whether computer game brain training might be useful for people who have Huntington’s disease. Sadly, not many people know about Huntington’s disease, so I am working to try and spread awareness and understanding of the condition.

I normally get up once Peter the cat has jumped on to the bed asking for his breakfast! I don’t really have a typical day and that is the reason I love my job. Some days I am teaching students, I run online discos and sessions with the students to help them during the pandemic. Other days I will be talking to people about science, all things science. On other days I am marking or having meetings. The thing I love most about my job is when I get to help people, whether that is students or patients. Here I am in a local pub (before covid) talking about genetics!