Introduction
I spent the first 15 years of my life in the coastal city of Dar es salaam in Tanzania, followed by a few years in Oman. I moved to the UK to pursue my higher education in 2011. I hold a BSc in Biomedical Sciences with Honours from the University of Kent (2011-2014). I then moved to London to pursue an MSc in Biomedical Sciences at University College London (2014-2015). My interest in ion channel physiology and pharmacology led to a PhD in Pharmacology at UCL (2016-2020). I am now a postdoctoral Fellow on a BBSRC link award between the laboratories of Professor Paolo Tammaro and Fran Platt in the Department of Pharmacology and Autifony Therapeutics.
Teaching
During my doctorate at UCL I held teaching assistant and co-supervisory roles in pharmacology, biochemistry and diseases of ageing modules. I was recognised as an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2019.
Research
My research interests are in ion channel physiology and pharmacology, with particular interest in a novel group of chloride ion channels known as TMEM16A. Unlike other channels, TMEM16A is highly sensitive to its lipid environment, including signalling lipids. Furthermore, their ubiquitous expression in the vasculature poses severe implications for vascular disease (including Niemann-Pick Disease, type C1-disease). Thus, my research aims to elucidate the extent of lipid sensitivity of this channel by lipids and exploit this knowledge to develop lipid-like small molecules with therapeutic potential.