I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, followed by an MSc in Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, UK. In 2009, I began my research in ALS/FTD as a DPhil (PhD) student in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford where I developed novel fluorescently tagged bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) constructs carrying the entire human TARDBP genomic locus with ALS-related mutations. My constructs were used to develop a new transgenic mouse model of ALS, which has subsequently shown disease-like degeneration and motor deficits, becoming an essential physiological tool for modelling ALS. In 2014, I joined Professor Talbot’s laboratory in the Oxford MND Centre where I took the lead on establishing a new programme of research on iPS models of ALS/FTD. As co-investigator on a Biomedical Project Grant from the Motor Neuron Disease Association, and later fellow of the Oxford-Celgene Translational Research programme, I performed the first differentiations of human iPS cells to motor neurons at the University of Oxford and I identified significant disease-associated phenotypes in ALS/FTD iPS-derived motor and cortical neurons. Throughout my research, I have been employing various state-of-the-art techniques to answer biological questions related to selective degeneration of neurons in ALS/FTD, such as CRISPR/Cas9 genomic engineering, optogenetics, spatial proteomics and live functional imaging. I am also actively involved in teaching and mentoring students. With a Brain Science Fellowship awarded in 2023, I am now leading a research programme at the University of Oxford on understanding the mechanistic link between mitochondrial deficits and dysfunctional synaptic transmission in ALS/FTD, which is a promising candidate pathway for therapeutic intervention.