Hannah is a PhD student currently researching novel detection methods for the suspected zoonotic pathogen Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Her main focus is on the development of more efficient culture-based detection methods to improve the growth rate of MAP in vitro. Other areas of interest include the characterisation of a novel mycobacteriophage with the potential to be used in phage-based MAP detection methods, and the use of peptides for the detection of anti-MAP antibodies.

Prior to beginning her PhD, Hannah completed her BSc in Microbiology with Professional Studies at Queen's University Belfast. As part of this course, she spent a year with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute researching the incidence of Influenza D in cattle with confirmed respiratory disease in Northern Ireland. This work has led to a publication entitled "Detection of Influenza D in bovine respiratory disease samples, UK."