I completed my BSc in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Dundee. During my degree, I undertook a Wellcome Biomedical Vacation Scholarship in Dr Tracey Mitchell’s lab at the St Johns Institute of Dermatology at King’s, working on DNA damage repair pathway inhibition in primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. My undergraduate thesis was in the lab of Prof Karim Labib at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit focused on investigating DNA replication initiation mechanisms in Caenorhabditis elegans.

I completed my BSc in Biological Sciences with a specialisation in Development, Regeneration, and Stem Cells at the University of Edinburgh. Through university courses, I discovered a strong passion for the field and became particularly enthusiastic about its potential to shape the future of medicine.

I gained my first research experience as part of the Amgen Scholars programme, completing a summer internship at the Pasteur Institute. My project focused on the role of epithelial apoptosis in Drosophila wing development and encouraged me to pursue a career in research. 

For my bachelor’s dissertation, I studied the effects of antagonising Notch signalling on haematopoietic differentiation of hESCs. I gained experience with cell culture, molecular biology techniques and flow cytometry

After finishing high school in Kenya, I obtained my integrated Master's degree in Biochemistry from the University of Warwick in England. During my time there, I worked on two projects: one focused on Alanyl-tRNA synthetase as a target for antimicrobial drug discovery in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and my Master's project on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, where I characterised ligand binding sites on TB metal transporters for potential TB treatments. 

After university, I worked at the Almeida lab in the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany as a research assistant. This was a cancer immunology lab, where I worked on the optimisation of melanoma and CD8+ T cell co-cultures to aid in CAR-T cell therapy research. 

After that I returned to England and worked as a Research technician at Rocio Sancho's lab, optimising a protocol for differentiating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into pancreatic islets for Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) research. 

After a year, I decided I wanted to continue this work in a PhD and had a unique opportunity arose to join the Advanced Therapies in Regenerative Medicine PhD Programme by proceeding directly to doctoral studies.

I completed my undergraduate degree at Imperial College London, where I studied biochemistry and became interested in disease mechanisms and translational science. To further explore these, I completed a 12-monthindustry placement at LifeArc, Stevenage, where I joined the Protein Science team and developed strong skills across protein purification and assay development. I then continued my studies at the University of Cambridge, obtaining an MPhil in Biomolecular Science after working on a project to develop an in vitro model of multiple sclerosis. These experiences showed me that research is very exciting and I decided to pursue a PhD as a setting stone for my academic career.

After university, I worked at the Almeida lab in the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany as a research assistant. This was a cancer immunology lab, where I worked on the optimisation of melanoma and CD8+ T cell co-cultures to aid in CAR-T cell therapy research. 

After that I returned to England and worked as a Research technician at Rocio Sancho's lab, optimising a protocol for differentiating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into pancreatic islets for Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) research. 

After a year, I decided I wanted to continue this work in a PhD and had a unique opportunity arose to join the Advanced Therapies in Regenerative Medicine PhD Programme by proceeding directly to doctoral studies.

I completed an MSci in Cell Biology at University College London in 2024. During my degree, I undertook a seven-week summer internship in 2023 at the University of Oxford’s Dunn School of Pathology in the Esashi Lab, investigating the role of DNA topoisomerase IIβ (TOP2B) in cellular quiescence. For my final-year project in the Pichaud Lab at the LMCB, I studied how basement membrane components, particularly Laminin, regulate proliferation and organ size during development, using the Drosophila retina as a model system.

I completed my BSc in Biochemistry before taking a gap year to work in Cape Town, South Africa, where I joined a biotech start-up supporting COVID-19 diagnostics during the pandemic. I went on to pursue a Master’s in Translational Neuroscience at Imperial College London, where my research focused on identifying therapeutic targets to promote regeneration after spinal cord injury. After this, I worked as an in vivo research assistant at University College London, investigating DNA- and protein-level therapeutic strategies for Huntington’s disease. These experiences shaped my interest in neurodevelopment, regeneration, and modelling human neurological disorders.

I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Biotechnologies for Health at the University of Grenoble Alpes (UGA) in France. During my third year, I had the opportunity to spend a year in Kuopio, Finland, where I studied Biomedicine and discovered the fascinating field of regenerative medicine. After this year abroad, I returned to France determined to further explore regenerative medicine, and I enrolled in a two-year MSc programme in Gene, Cell Therapies and Tissue Engineering at UGA (France). As part of this MSc, I completed two research placements. The first was in Prof. Francesca Spagnoli’s lab at King’s College London (UK), where I worked on the “Directed differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells into organ-specific mesenchyme of the pancreas”. My second placement took place in Dr Maria Alcolea’s laboratory at the University of Cambridge (UK), where I investigated “Environmental reprogramming approaches to induce mouse epithelial tissues into a developmental-like state in vitro”.

I obtained my BA in Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Oxford, where I completed an undergraduate research project on the role of ANAPC1 in proliferation and cell cycle regulation in prostate cancer. I was supervised by Dr Claire Edwards (NDORMS) and Dr Srinivasa Rao Rao (NDS). During my undergrad, in summer 2023, I completed a 3-month internship on hematopoietic stem cells in Prof. Roi Gazit’s lab at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel). The same year, I also represented Oxford University in iGEM—an international competition in synthetic biology. Together with nine other students, we worked on developing a biosensor for faster and more efficient detection of bacterial contamination in water. For this project, we were awarded silver at the Paris Jamboree.

I completed my undergraduate studies at Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Chile, graduating with a BSc in Engineering and a Bioengineering Professional Degree. After a gap year, I pursued a Master’s degree in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences Research at King’s College London, completing a six-month research project under the supervision of Dr. Matthew Stroud. Following my studies, I worked as a research assistant at the Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat) and the Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaiso (CINV)

I moved to London to pursue a BSc in Medical Biosciences at Imperial College. During my second and third year, I had the opportunity to learn about iPSC maintenance, reprogramming, and cloning. I also participated in establishing a cerebral organoid differentiation protocol in the Germline and Pluripotency lab, in the aim of modelling intracranial germ cell tumours.

I obtained by Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences (Molecular Genetics) from The University of Edinburgh (UoE). Alongside my undergraduate studies, I undertook multiple internships which helped me develop skills in both computational and wet-lab techniques. In Dr Baranovic lab (UoE) I was focusing on improving the super-resolution imaging of AMPA receptors by using molecular dynamic simulations. During my placement in Loschmidt Laboratories (Czech Republic), I performed in silico screening to identify binders for the AHK4 receptor. Later, I was awarded the Gurdon Studentship award to conduct research in Dr Soufi lab (UoE) where I studied the role of Sox2 gene in pluripotency maintenance. For my Bachelor’s thesis, I joined Prof Kaji lab (UoE) where I was developing an in vitro disease model for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. After these experiences, I became passionate about stem cell & regenerative medicine and decided to pursue further research in this field during my PhD.

I have completed my integrated Master’s (Msci) degree at University College London, and also spent a year abroad at the California Institute of Technology. During my studies I have gained insights into both wet-lab work and computational analysis. In my Master’s project, I have discovered various genetic and environmental perturbations that can trigger multicellularity in the otherwise single-celled fission yeast.

I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Genomics at the University of Bologna. As part of my undergraduate thesis project, I completed a placement at King’s College London in Dr. Alessandra Vigilante lab. During this time, as part of a collaboration with Prof. Micheal Malim and Dr. Luis Apolonia labs, I used a multi-omics approach to interrogate HiPsci cell line’s variation to study the influence of host genetic factors upon HIV-1 infection.

I obtained a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and Physiology from the University of Belgrade, followed by a master’s degree in Human Biology from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU). During my time at LMU, I completed my thesis project in Mirjana Kessler’s lab, where I worked on in vitro modelling of carboplatin response in high-grade serous ovarian cancer patient-derived organoids. Afterward, I joined a biotech startup in Munich, where I spent a year working on novel AAV gene therapies for retinal diseases.

I obtained my BSc in Biochemistry with Professional Experience at The University of Manchester. During my studies, I completed a placement year at the University of California San Francisco at Guo Huang's laboratory to study the regenerative potential of the heart. During this time, I became fascinated by the striking regenerative potential displayed across the animal kingdom and how some of these mechanisms of regeneration are reiterated across ontogeny and phylogeny. For my final year project in Manchester, I joined Karl Kadler's laboratory to explore the circadian regulation of collagen fibrils in response to immune cells in the heart and lungs. Upon completing my undergraduate studies, I wished to pursue a career in academia dedicated to regeneration in a translational field.

I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences at the university of Pavia, Italy. During my thesis I focused on hydrocarbon degrading fungi with the aim of understanding how to exploit these microorganisms for the purpose of bioremediation of hydrocarbons derivatives from solid materials.

After considering a career in environmental biology, I decided to pursue my interest for human health, and I enrolled in the Molecular Biology and Genetics master’s degree in the same atheneum. In parallel, I also studied at the Biomedical Sciences class at the University School of Advanced Studies of Pavia (IUSS)….

I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the Technical University Braunschweig (Germany), where alongside my studies I worked as a student research assistant at the Department of Cellular Neurobiology. During this degree, both my thesis project in Prof Martin Korte’s lab and an extracurricular project in Prof Tim Karl’s lab at Western Sydney University focussed on behavioural neuroscience. I then went on to complete a Master’s degree in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Maastricht (The Netherlands) with a 10-month placement in Prof Vincenzo De Paola’s group at Imperial College London. Here, I had the chance to gain insight into modelling human neuron development in vivo using a xenotransplantation approach. Before starting the ATRM PhD program, I joined the Cells for Sight team led by Prof Julie Daniels at University College London as a research assistant manufacturing artificial ocular surface tissue under GMP conditions.

I read Molecular Genetics at King’s College London at an undergraduate level followed by MRes degree in Biomedical Research specialising in Molecular Basis of Human Disease from Imperial College London. During my postgraduate course I explored the role of microRNAs in regulating pancreatic β-cell functions and contributed towards the generation of a model system for studying the impact of epigenetic changes on serotonin system in vitro.

I then joined Pan3DP Consortium as a research assistant. My primary role was to perform detailed structural characterisation of developing murine pancreas, as well as bioprinted pancreatic organoids using 3D lightsheet microscopy. 

I completed my bachelor’s degree in biotechnology engineering with a minor in molecular biology at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. During my degree, I undertook a year internship in Dr. Dario Lemos Lab at the Harvard Institutes of Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Here, I developed kidney organoids from patient-derived stem cells to model tuberous sclerosis complex, a rare degenerative disease.

I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from University College Dublin, Ireland. During this time, I undertook a Wellcome Trust-funded project at UCD in the area of Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as an Erasmus placement at Cambridge University modelling Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease with iPSCs, in the lab of Prof David Rowitch. Following my studies, I became a research assistant at the National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology at Dublin City University. Here, I developed organotypic models of uveal melanoma from primary patient tumours during a post of 18-months. Following this, I moved to London where I took up a research assistant position at KCL, exploring the role of molecular chaperones in iPSC-derived astrocytes in the context of Alzheimer's Disease.