I'm a postdoctoral researcher investigating why cardiovascular diseases affect men and women differently, a question at the heart of the research group I’m working to establish. Trained as a cell and molecular biologist, I have studied the breadth of the cardiovascular system, from how blood vessels form to how they become dysfunctional with age. Currently, I investigate the mechanisms that cause dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease that weakens the heart and impairs its ability to pump blood.
I investigate why dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), an incurable disease that weakens the heart, develops differently in women and men. Using preclinical disease models, human iPSC-derived beating heart cells, and patient biopsies, I study the sex-specific signalling pathways that drive DCM, including those that may protect the female heart. With this knowledge, I hope to identify new sex-specific therapies that slow or prevent DCM.
Research history
I completed my PhD with Dr. Stephen Robinson (Quadram Institute, UK), where I studied how endothelial integrins and the VEGF co-receptor Neuropilin-1 regulate the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). In 2020, I started a BBSRC-funded postdoc in Dr. Derek Warren’s group (University of East Anglia, UK), investigating how vascular smooth muscle cells respond to age-related matrix stiffening. There I identified a microtubule-stability switch that regulates the activity of the force-sensitive Piezo1 ion channel. In 2023, I moved to Denmark, joining Dr. Stephan Lange’s group (Aarhus University) to investigate why overexpression of the cardiac protein CARP1 drives DCM but has no effect on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
I supervise research projects that investigate the molecular mechanisms responsible for sex-specific differences in dilated cardiomyopathy development. Our projects investigate these mechanisms using a range of biochemical, proteomic, and pharmacological approaches in cellular and in vivo models of heart disease.
I supervise projects at undergraduate, master’s, research year and PhD (co-supervisor) level, offered through the following courses (Empirical Bachelor’s Project, Master’s Research Elective, and Hypertension: From molecule to patient management).
I am happy to hear from students interested in a project through other modules or from other departments / universities.
I also teach on the following courses:
I am keen to connect with researchers and clinicians interested in better understanding sex differences in cardiovascular health and disease. If you see potential for collaboration I would be happy to hear from you.
Key collaborations include:
My responsibilities span research, teaching and student supervision. I teach on the medical bachelor's programme and provide in-lab supervision of my own students and those in Associate Professor Stephan Lange’s group, guiding them through experimental techniques, data analysis, and report writing.
I co-supervise PhD student Lucas Friberg Jacobsen, who is investigating how sex-specific kinase signalling pathways shape the development of dilated cardiomyopathy in women and men.
