Professional Activities
I am an evolutionary biologist currently serving as Head of Department and Chair in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Liverpool. I have served as President of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) in 2022. Previously, I was Head of the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham (2018-2022), where I led 130 academics and managed an annual budget of £50 million.
My research contributions span evolutionary biology, microbial genomics, and bioinformatics. I have published over 120 peer-reviewed papers in leading journals including Nature, Science, and PNAS. My work has been supported by substantial research funding totalling over €39 million from major funding bodies including the Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, and Science Foundation Ireland.
I am a Fellow of both the American Academy of Microbiology and the Linnean Society. I have served as Senior Editor for "Evolution and Responses to Interventions" at Microbial Genomics and am the chair of the Blavatnik Awards jury and have been a member of the jury since 2017.
I have supervised 24 PhD students to completion and have extensive experience in research leadership, including roles as Domain Director at the University of Manchester and various strategic advisory positions.
Throughout my career, I have been committed to scientific communication, giving over 90 invited presentations internationally and conducting more than 160 media interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating my dedication to public engagement in science.