I have been Professor of Microbiology and Public Health in the Department of Medicine since 2019. I am a former Fellow and Honorary Fellow of St John’s College Cambridge.
A former nurse, I qualified in medicine at the University of Southampton. Higher training in general internal medicine was followed by specialisation in clinical and academic microbiology.
I was founding director of the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium, formed in April 2020 to generate SARS-CoV-2 genomes for the pandemic response. Prior to this, I spent 10 years translating pathogen sequencing into clinical and public health practice.
I have been a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) since 2015, and a Trustee of the Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust since 2023.
I am a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2013), a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2015) and was awarded the Medical Research Council Millennium Medal in 2021.
I bring a range of interests to Council, including strategy, governance, widening access to the University of Cambridge, mental health, and environmental sustainability.