I am a teaching and leadership focused academic who researches and innovates in the research education space. I teach project management, communication in STEM, and employability. 

After completing my BSc Hons and PhD at the University of Queensland in molecular physiology, I was a research fellow at Imperial College London, an industry researcher in New Zealand, and then an international research fellow at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência in Lisbon. I later moved to a role in graduate research training at the University of Helsinki, before returning to Australia in 2016 and Macquarie University, where I am currently a faculty member in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences (FMHHS). I was appointed as a full-time teaching and leadership focussed faculty member in 2020.

I firmly believe in ongoing professional development to improve practice and thus have completed a Bachelor of Teaching and Bachelor of Economics and Development in 2015 and am currently completing an MBA in Educational Leadership.

I have held multiple awards and fellowships, including the Dora Lush NHMRC Award, Marie Curie IIF fellowship, Wellcome Trust International Research Fellowship, and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia postdoctoral fellowship. I currently serve as Director of the Master of Research program for the FMHHS faculty, as well as Co-director of Research Training in Macquarie Medical School.  

Research focus and collaborations 

My research employs social science methods to investigate problems in research leadership, practice and education. 

Some of these projects are:

• Communication in videoconference lab meetings – focus on effective meeting practice in STEM disciplines
• Effective mentoring practice for faculty researchers and higher degree research students
• Exploring the interface between social networks and real community groups
• Developing models of project management for research practice

My group accepts students at the undergraduate, honours, and postgraduate level. If you are interested in working in the researcher development space, please contact me to talk about your interests. I have students who work on projects outside the scope of the topics described above.