I began my studies at the University of Victoria (Canada) in biochemistry and biology before moving to the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH, Sweden) for a master’s degree in bioreactor and protein engineering. I completed my PhD at the University of Cambridge (UK) in the Department of Zoology, focusing on epithelial patterning in Drosophila eggs. Since then, I have remained in Cambridge, completing my first postdoc in the Department of Genetics, where I investigated centrosome migration in Drosophila eggs. During my second postdoc, also in the Department of Genetics, I pioneered research into the genetic basis of parthenogenesis in Drosophila. I am now applying my expertise in cell and developmental biology to new research in the Department of Plant Sciences, focusing on the cell and molecular biology of plant-parasite interactions.
Selected Publications:
'Aneuploidy during development in facultative parthenogenetic Drosophila', (2024), Heredity.
'Whole mount multiplexed visualization of DNA, mRNA, and protein in plant-parasitic nematodes', (2023), Plant Methods.
'A genetic basis for facultative parthenogenesis in Drosophila', (2023), Current Biology.
'Parthenogenesis in dipterans: a genetic perspective', (2023), Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
'The careful control of Polo kinase by APC/C-Ube2C ensures the intercellular transport of germline centrosomes during Drosophila oogenesis', (2021), Open Biology.