Greater Cambridge Area
After completing my MD at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (which also included a whole year studying at the University of Bristol, UK) in 1997, I started my career training in Internal Medicine in the United Kingdom and became a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 2000. I went on to specialize in Haematology (completing my training in 2005). My intention was always to have an academic career and I therefore started a PhD at the University of Cambridge with Dr Lorna Williamson developing a recombinant antibody to treat babies affected by a bleeding disorder due to maternal antibodies against the baby's blood platelet. I completed my PhD in 2008 and moved on as a post-doctoral clinical fellow to Prof Steve Watson laboratory at the University of Birmingham where I obtained a personal Intermediate Clinical Fellowship from the British Heart Foundation. This programme of research allowed me to further my knowledge of platelet and megakaryocyte biology. In 2010 I obtained a tenure post as Senior Lecturer in Transfusion Medicine in the Department of Haematology at the University of Cambridge where I now run a group of research with a special interest in two main fields of research: 1. production in vitro of blood cells for transfusion in humans using pluripotent stem cells technologies and 2. in vitro modelling of inherited platelet disorders. My research is supported by various funcind bodies including NHS Blood and Transplant, the British Heart Foundation, National Institute for Health and Research.