Following my undergraduate medical studies at Newcastle University, I rotated through different hospitals across the North East during my foundation and core medical training. I worked for two years in the East of England, in acute medicine and dermatology, before re-joining the NUTH to start my Dermatology higher speciality training. Alongside my clinical training, I completed an MRes in Health Research (University of Sterling) and an MSc in Clinical Education (University of Edinburgh) which provided valuable knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research approaches.
My research area focuses on mainly on Hidradenitis suppurativa. This is a chronic dermatological condition whereby patients have recurrent inflamed boils and abscesses affecting the skin folds which cause debilitating symptoms such as pain and discharge. As the disease progresses, scarring and skin distortion can occur in the affected body areas. Hidradenitis suppurativa has a significant impact on patient’s quality of life and is associated with poorer mental health, greater rates of unemployment and reduced life expectancy. The mechanisms driving the disease, how it starts and progresses, are not fully understood and treatment options are limited. My research aims to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying hidradenitis suppurativa, by leveraging newer technologies that enable us to conduct in-depth analyses of the diseased skin at single cell level, to determine how the different types of cells and components of the skin interact with each other and what factors are responsible for causing inflammation and scarring.
Although my research experience described above allowed me to develop a range of basic research skills, my laboratory experience was lacking. The funding from the Newcastle BRC was instrumental in allowing me to take time out of clinical training to undertake a focused period of lab-based research, obtain key wet and dry lab experience, and overall improve my research CV and competitiveness when applying for the MRC Training fellowship.
In the supra-regional complex hidradenitis clinic at NUTH, we see a number of patients from across the North East with severe hidradenitis suppurativa, some of whom have only partial or very limited response to available treatment options. By increasing our understanding of the disease pathogenesis, my research aims to ultimately identify therapeutic targets to enable development of better treatment options for our patients.
My research training fellowship will enable me to acquire transferable skills and expertise well as provide an excellent platform to develop broader collaborations. These will be valuable assets to support further intermediate fellowships and funding aplications and pursue my career goal to become an academic dermatologist.