Profile

I was brought up in Liverpool and as well as Oxford, I have lived and worked or studied in various places including London, Stoke-on-Trent, Malawi, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

We work on why heart attacks affect some families more than others. If someone has a relative who has had a heart attack, then that increases the chance that they themselves will have a heart attack. So why is this?

The main reason is that the family has inherited genes that increase their risk of heart attacks. If we can find out which genes do this and how they do this, then we can come up with better ways to prevent and treat the disease.

Heart attacks are caused by blockages in the arteries that supply blood to the heart, so we study how genes affect how these blockages form.

I wake up and make breakfast – porridge is my favourite breakfast. I have a drink of milk which contains lots of calcium (which is good for bones!). I then cycle or walk to work and plan or do experiments in the laboratory. On some days I see patients. I usually have sandwiches for lunch and often have lunch in meetings with other people. In the afternoon I might meet with students to do some teaching or meet with other scientists to plan research or look at the results of experiments. I go home in the early evening and often cook for the family.