Associate Professor of Neuroscience, Principal Investigator, Peninsula Medical School, Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth.

Areas of Research: Brain Tumourigenesis: glioma initiation, growth and targetting; Neural stem cells and brain development.

My Research team is part of the Brain Tumour Research Centre at Plymouth.

Current team members: Dr Jon Gil-Ranedo (Lecturer), Rosie Moore (PhD student), Ella Harris (PhD student), Akshaya Palani (PhD student, DoS Jon Gil-Ranedo).

Qualifications I received my 5-year Diploma (1st class) from the Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal), my doctoral degree from the University of Cambridge (UK) and was a postdoctoral fellow at both The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, San Diego, USA) and the University of Oxford (UK). I was next awarded a Leverhulme Early Career Felowship which I started at Bangor University (Wales, UK) and moved to the University of Plymouth, where I then continued as a Lecturer in Neuroscience. Since 2020 I am an Associate Professor of Neuroscience. Since 2014 I am also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy following my Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice award.

Research in my team focusses on investigating glioma, namely mechanisms of tumour initiation, development, tumour cell plasticity and progression from lower grade to more aggressive higher grade. We are also interested in mechanims underlying Neural Stem Cell mitotic activation and identity.  

Postgraduate Research Degree Coordination and Leadership

• Deputy Director of Doctoral College & Faculty of Health Doctoral College Committee chair (Nov 2019-Dec 2022);
• Faculty of Health Research Degrees Committee member (2013-2019; vice-chair 2015-2019);
• Peninsula Medical School Postgraduate Research Coordinator (2015-Jan 2020).
• Peninsula Medical School Senior Management Team member (2019-23).

Completions:

• 8 PhDs (6 as Director of Studies; 2 as 2nd supervisor)
• 2 MRes (as Director of Studies)

Current: 2 PhDs (as Director of Studies); 3 PhDs (as 2nd or 3rd supervisor)

See our lab website for alumni and their next destinations.

Neuroscience, cancer, neural stem and cancer stem cell development. 
Current contributions to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching:

• Peninsula Medical School - Special Session Units (SSU MIS, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (BMBS). year 2,  module co-lead
• Peninsula Medical School - Higher Brain Function, BMBS 
• Peninsula Dental School, Life Sciences - Molecular Biology of Cancer (year 2)
• School of Biomedical Sciences, BHCS3007 - Contemporary issues in Neurobiology - Neural Stem Cells (year 3)
• School of Biomedical Sciences, BHCS3001 - Personal Research Projects (year 3; host min 2 internships/ year)
• School of Biomedical Sciences 5006 - Neural Basis of Cognition, MSc in Biomedical Science 
• School of Biomedical Sciences 3030 - 1-year long Personal Research Project (year 3)
• Pastoral Tutoring, Peninsula Medical Schools of Medicine and Dentistry undergraduates, all years

Past contributions: Peninsula Medical School SSU R - Research in Action (year 4); Peninsula Medical School SSU DaE (year 2); Peninsula Dental School - Emerging Concepts in Biomedical Science (year 2); School of Biomedical Sciences - MSc in Biomedical Science (Research Project).

Higher Education Academy Fellow UK

European Association Cancer Research member
British Society for Cell Biology member and Ambassador at University of Plymouth 
British Society for Developmental Biology member King's College Cambridge University Fellow

Peer review of research grants and manuscripts for varied funding bodies and journals.