My main research interests include biomarker discovery associated with early microvascular decline in ‘at risk’ individuals associated with kidney disease, diabetic complications, dementia and other chronic diseases, including nutrigenomics, socioeconomic factors and carotenoid and antioxidant levels, particularly vitamin E and its associated impact with disease. 

I am PI on several projects using multiomic approaches to investigate diabetic kidney disease and renal transplant outcomes including genetic (whole genome sequencing), epigenetic (methylation arrays), proteomic screening (Olink and Mass Spec approaches), metabolomic (Biocrates and Nightingale Health) and transcriptomic approaches (RNA seq). These projects include evaluation of data from several multi-centre collections, including UK Biobank, the Northern Ireland Cohort of Longitudinal Ageing (NICOLA), and international cohorts from other European countries, the Americas and Asia.

Currently, I am Director of Operations for the NICOLA study and chair the Data Access Committee; I am scientific advisor for the Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund; I hold a visiting scholar position with the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. I advise and chair multiple funding panels for the Research Executive Agency (REA) and The Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA) and the EU4H programme of the European Commission that seeks to improve a broad range of health outcomes.

Research funding has included support from the Medical Research Council, Innovate UK, the National Institute for Health (US), Diabetes UK, Northern Ireland R&D Office, the Irish Clinical Academic Training Network, the Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund, the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland, Fight for Sight, the Macular Society, Belfast Trust Charitable Funds and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

I have co-authored >200 peer-reviewed publications which can be viewed here in PubMed.

I have developed and coordinate clinical genetics modules for both undergraduate Medicine (MED1021) and Biomedical Science (BMS2111) degree programmes. I also coordinate a postgraduate module on Genomics and Human Disease (SCM8095) on our MSc in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Additional teaching commitments include participation in standard setting, exam boards, progress reviews and postgraduate research boards. Postgraduate supervision has included successful completion of 9 PhD and 5 Master's studentships. I have undertaken external examiner roles at the following institutions: U of Edinburgh (Scotland, 2016. 2023, 2024), U of Dundee (Scotland, 2021, 2023), U College Dublin (Ireland, 2017), Royal College of Surgeons (Ireland, 2020), North West University (South Afrrica, 2021), King's College London (2023), University College London (2024) and Monash University Malaysia (2024).

I was an invited expert advisor to Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany (2017). I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an Editorial Board Member for the journals, Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group), the International Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Genetics (e-Century Publishing Corporation) and the Journal of Diabetes Research (Hindawi Publishing Group).

Administrative and Managerial roles

I have been an expert panel member, including Chair, for multiple EU Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe research programmes including Innovative Medicines Initiative 2, Use of Real World Data for the Management of Complex Chronic Conditions, and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (Doctoral Training Networks and Fellowship Awards). 

I am one of three QUB 'Designated Individuals' for the University Human Tissue Act licence (#12059) and sit on the University Human Tissue Steering Group.  I was Health and Safety Chair for the Centre for Public Health, a member of the Centre Senior Management Team and the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sceince  Health and Safety Committee (2014-2024). 

Outreach Activities

I am the scientific advisor for the Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund (since 2021). In addition, I support patient advocacy groups including Alzheimer's Research UK and Diabetes UK through communication and dissemination activities to promote science and research. Additional outreach activities include the promotion of STEM subjects to local schoolchildren and through the Northern Ireland Science Festivals. My lab has hosted work-placement students and provided learning opportunities through the Nuffield Research Placement Programme for Northern Ireland (2020, 2021) and the Sentinus Research Academy (2022, 2023).