About me

I am a professor of developmental cognitive neuroscientist whose research focuses on how brain development supports emotional, cognitive, and social functioning in children and adolescents. I completed my PhD at Birkbeck College, University of London, and undertook postdoctoral training at University College London, King’s College London, the National Institutes of Health (USA), and the University of Oxford.

My current work centres on the microbiome–gut–brain axis, where I lead a multidisciplinary programme investigating how gut health influences brain function, psychological wellbeing, and behaviour in development. As head of the Brain Nutrition Gut Microbiome group at the University of Surrey, I have developed novel dietary intervention protocols with measurable impact on mood, cognition, and brain activity in young people.

I am a founding member of the Nutrition Society’s Special Interest Group for Nutritional Psychiatry, and plays an active role in advancing translational, biologically informed approaches to mental health. A strong advocate for co-production, my research is shaped in close collaboration with young people, their families, and clinical practitioners to ensure real-world relevance and accessibility.