I am a Clinical Professor / Consultant Pathologist specialising in Molecular Diagnostics.  In 2010 I led the development of Northern Ireland's first cancer focused Biobank (www.nibiobank.org) to ensure easier access to high quality, clinically annotated samples for researchers which are essential for translational research.  As Director of the Northern Ireland Biobank (NIB) I have secured more than £3.5 million in direct funding to expand the biobank’s infrastructure across Northern Ireland.   Currently NIB supports not only cancer research but also research into other conditions such as neurodegenerative disease, respiratory disease, endocrinology and infectious diseases, including COVID-19.  NIB has rapidly become an internationally recognised biomedical resource which enables researchers worldwide to gain quicker, regulated access to quality assured collections of tissue, blood and other biological samples linked with reliable clinical and pathological data sets.  NIB has helped researchers in Northern Ireland to leverage millions of pounds in competitive grant funding.

I am also a Consultant Pathologist in the Northern Ireland Regional Molecular Diagnostic Service (RMDS) for Solid Tumours in which I have key responsibilities for Breast FISH testing and therapeutic immunohistochemistry.   I am the Service Improvement Lead working between Belfast Trust's Cellular Pathology department and RMDS.

My current research is centred on using high quality human biosamples to identify and validate molecular targets as biomarkers for disease prediction, prognosis and response to therapy.   In particular, I use novel approaches in molecular digital pathology, including application of multiplex immunofluorescence, to identify and validate novel biomarkers in the tumour microenvironment.  

I make significant contributions to ongoing national and international research initiatives.  I am a member of the international EPIC-Oropharyngeal Cancer consortium.