I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow (Mychasiuk lab) working on retinal pathological consequences of neonatal inflicted injury (NII) in a preclinical NII model. Before this, I acquired my Honours degree in 2019 with Monash University, where I commenced my research career with Professor Mychasiuk and Dr. Yamakawa. My focus began in preclinical traumatic brain injury (TBI) research, with a particular interest in how modifiable lifestyle factors, can influence recovery. My PhD focused on the gut-brain-immune (GBI) axis and TBI recovery in adolescent and adult rats, including social behaviour and pain. During the final year of my PhD, I was also awarded a seed grant of $25,000 from the GIN Discovery Program to explore the brain-bladder-immune axis in a preclinical model of TBI.

During my PhD I collaborated with post-doctoral research fellows from the immunology department. I also worked alongside Dr. Yamakawa to explore the influence of the GBI axis on sleep and circadian rhythms throughout the lifespan, and Dr. Foster and Dr. Ray to explore the role of the GBI axis in headache disorders.

Throughout my short academic career, I have also supervised and mentored 2 honours and 1 PhD student and developed significant skills in the lab, including gut microbiome specific techniques (16s rRNA sequencing, metabolomic analysis, immunohistochemistry, gut microbiome depletion models) as well as microscopy- based techniques, rodent PET scans, preclinical rodent behaviour testing and qPCR experiments. This work during my PhD has led to 10 published manuscripts, 7 being first author publications, and presented my work at 10 conferences nationally and internationally.