Email: portico-services@ucl.ac.uk
Help Desk: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ras/portico/helpdesk
- Research Fellow
- MRC Unit for Lifelong Hlth & Ageing
- Population Science & Experimental Medicine
- Faculty of Pop Health Sciences
University education
I have a BSc in Psychology from Birkbeck, University of London and an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology from Goldsmiths, University of London. My PhD was in Genetic Epidemiology and was funded by a multidisciplinary studentship from the ESRC/MRC.
In the final year of my PhD I undertook research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) for 3 months under the ESRC's funded competitive Overseas Institutional Visit (OIV) scheme. I also received a funded extension to my PhD.
Citizenship & public engagement
I am a STEM Ambassador, which means that I work with young people to contribute to widening participation in STEM. Key activities in this area include presentations at schools, speed dating careers sessions & discussions around what it's like to be a researcher/scientist. I am also involved in mentoring young people, both online and in person.


Expertise & background
I am a genetic epidemiologist with a background in psychology and statistics. I use a combination of observational and genetic epidemiology to understand the aetiology of complex traits/diseases.
Previous research
My doctoral research focused on trying to disentangle the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and sleep duration, using large population-based studies. To do this, I analysed a combination of epidemiological and genomic data.
Current work
Research
I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow in Prof. Nish Chaturvedi's MRC LHA Unit and I work in collaboration with Prof. Aroon Hingorani's Translational Genomics group. I also collaborate with researchers at the Institute of Sport and Exercise at UCL and the Institute of Health Informatics. Externally, I collaborate with researchers at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Bristol, Harvard University and the Universidad de la Republica in Uruguay.
I am also a Visiting Research Fellow at LSHTM and work closely with Prof. Liam Smeeth and Prof. Krishnan Bhaskaran in the Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology. I currently use genomic and epidemiological data from the UK Biobank and Southall and Brent REvisited (SABRE) studies to try to understand the associations between glycemic traits and several outcomes, both physical and in the brain. I also have an interest in ethnic differences underlying these complex relationships and biological processes.
Student supervision
I currently supervise student dissertations across the following courses: MSc Data Science, MSc Health and Society: Social Epidemiology and BSc Population Health, MSc Cardiovascular Science and BSc Natural Sciences. I also supervise MRC PhD Year 1 rotation projects and am PhD supervisor for an MRC student and a student at the Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay.
Guest lecturer (Mendelian randomization)
Institute of Cardiovascular Science - UCL
Feb 2020, Feb 2021
Guest lecturer (Genetic Epidemiology)
Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, Univ. of London
Oct 2019, Feb 2018, Feb 2017, Feb 2016, Feb 2015
Guest lecturer (Diabetes)
Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, UCL
Feb 2019, Feb 2020, Feb 2021
Guest lecturer (Genetic Association Studies)
Institute of Health Informatics /Department of Epidemiology & Public Health - UCL
Oct, 2018, Nov 2018
Seminar leader/Demonstrator (Psychology)
Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, Univ. of London
2016/17, 2014/15 and 2011/12
24-NOV-2017 – SEP-2020 | Visiting Research Fellow | Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom |
OCT-2017 – OCT-2022 | Postdoctoral Research Fellow | Population Science and Experimental Medicine, ICS | UCL, United Kingdom |
MAR-2017 – JUN-2017 | Visiting Researcher | Psychology | Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway |
23-SEP-2013 | Doctoral researcher (student) | Epidemiology and Public Health | UCL, United Kingdom |
OCT-2012 – FEB-2013 | Honorary Research Assistant | Epidemiology and Public Health | UCL, United Kingdom |
SEP-2011 – SEP-2012 | Honorary Research Assistant | Psychology | Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom |
SEP-2011 – SEP-2012 | Honorary Research Assistant | Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre | King's College London, United Kingdom |
2018 | Doctor of Philosophy | University College London | |
2012 | Master of Science | Goldsmiths College | |
2011 | Bachelor of Science (Honours) | Birkbeck College |