My initial exposure to research was a project on the process of wound healing as a first-year medical student at UCL in London. This small study encouraged me to do a one-year project in tissue repair as part of an intercalated BSc. During my basic surgical training, I worked on several clinical projects; however, it was not until the completion of basic surgical training that I had the opportunity to continue with basic scientific research. Having completed a one-year research fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, I subsequently gained an MRC clinical training fellowship. This award led to a successful Ph.D. in molecular genetics of scar formation at the University of Manchester. I then began my specialist training in Plastic Surgery. Since completion of my Ph.D., I continued to maintain an active research interest as a lecturer and was successful in achieving an NIHR clinician-scientist award in plastic & reconstructive surgery research. Over the past few years, I have supervised numerous students who have completed their research, given oral presentations in national and international meetings as well as published in peer-reviewed scientific literature. My group comprises several postdocs, experimental officers, postgraduate students (Ph.D., MD, MSc, MRes), academic foundation doctors, and elective medical students. My international collaborators are from the USA, Europe, and Asia.
