Briefly, tell us about your background and experience up to this point?
I studied Physiotherapy at the University of Brighton before starting as a junior Physiotherapist at King’s College Hospital in 2001. Having specialised in musculoskeletal physiotherapy, I happened upon a short rotation where I worked with people living with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Realising the huge inequity in routine provision of rehabilitation care for this population, I began my next 20 years of research and clinical implementation projects to build and commission a renal rehabilitation service at KCH. I did my PhD at KCL with a NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship and then completed a NIHR Advanced Fellowship. I am the first Consultant Renal Physiotherapist in the UK and now enjoy supervising and mentoring early career researchers and clinicians, as well as running Kidney Beam – a physical activity digital health intervention for people with CKD.
What do you do with your time outside academia/work?
Outside of work, I love spending time with family. I have 2 very active teenagers and a very needy Cavapoochon. I also love nothing more than taking part in CrossFit comps with my CrossFit team.
What is something positive that happened to you in the last year?
Publishing the results from our multi-centre randomised controlled Kidney Beam trial in The Lancet Digital Health was a real highlight of my career and the culmination of a huge team effort from people around the UK.
What are you most looking forward to in 2024?
Having just raised our seed investment round, I am so looking forward to scaling Kidney Beam into the NHS and also looking at global expansion. As female co-founders, my partner and I are looking forward to breaking some gender stereotypes in the world of digital health start-ups.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Undoubtedly my 2 children! Being able to balance being a Mum with achieving a career hasn’t been without its challenges but has also given my 2 boys a positive experience of what Mum can achieve and they are always proud of what I do (even though I had to cheat on bake sale days or World Book Day costumes).
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I have always wanted to be a Professor in my field and continue to champion the case for better lifestyle management for people living with CKD. I would love to see myself achieve that within the next 5 years. I would also love to see Kidney Beam offered to people across the globe, including being able to offer the service for free to people living in low to middle income countries.
QUICK-FIRE:
Favourite season: Summer
Favourite book: The Power of One
Film/TV recommendation: Firefly Lane
Coffee order: Extra hot flat white