My Story
I am a marine molecular microbiologist with an interest in both fundamental biology and technology development for ocean monitoring. In am currently the Co-ordinator of the EU Horizon project AquaBioSens, which focuses on developing portable devices for on-site detection of aquatic pollutants and biohazards. The devices will implement molecular assays, immunoassays, and whole-cell biosensor assays, for the detection of HAB toxins, organic contaminants and heavy metals. I was previously a WP leader in the EU Horizon project TechOceanS, where I led the development of in situ nucleic acid sensors for ocean monitoring of HABs and invasive species.
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My current work brings together technologies developed for marine and biomedical science. This follows from my multidisciplinary background combining an education in marine science (Masters in Oceanography 2007 and PhD in marine molecular microbiology 2011, University of Southampton, UK), with postdoctoral experience in evolutionary biology/genomics and microbial interactions (MPI Evolutionary Biology, Germany; University of Exeter, UK) as well as experience with microfluidic based molecular bioanalytics in both academia (University of Southampton, UK) and biomedical industry (Binx Health, UK).
