I was born and educated in Dundee. In 1995 I obtained a first class honours degree in Biotechnology from the University of Abertay. I then obtained my PhD in 1999 from the University of Dundee under the supervision of Professor Tricia Cohen, where I discovered a new regulatory subunit for Protein Phosphatase 4. I then undertook a further two years of Postdoctoral Research at the University of Dundee working in research laboratories of Professor Tricia Cohen and Professor Mike Stark where I studied the function of protein phosphatases.

In 2001 I joined the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy, initially to purify protein phosphatases and protein kinases, but in late 2001 I moved to manage the Reagents and Service group along with Dr Hilary McLauchlan. Over the years we have built up a team of highly skilled and dedicated individuals, and it is the strength of our team that has made the DSTT the success that it is today.