After my BSc in Zoology and Genetics (1986) and my PhD in Evolutionary Genetics (1991) in Cardiff, I worked briefly in Medical Genetics at the University Hospital of Wales before moving to Bristol University. My research with Tim Skerry in Bristol revealed osteocyte gene expression in vivo and implicated glutamatergic signalling in mechanically-induced bone formation. I was appointed as Lecturer in Cardiff University in 1996, and then Senior Lecturer (SL) in 2009, after two periods of maternity leave. In this time I have investigated the role of glutamate transporters in bone, revealed a pathological role for glutamate in arthritis, and identified new pathways of cytokine- and mechanically- induced cartilage degradation involving PKR, ceramide and the cytoskeleton. I have supervised 10 PhD/MD students and secured funding for 30 research projects from Arthritis Research UK, BBSRC, the Welsh Office for Research and Development, Smith and Nephew and LGC. I co-ordinated Cardiff’s bid for the Arthritis Research UK-funded Centre of Excellence in Biomechanics and Bioengineering, where I am the Biomechanics, Inflammation and Pain Team Leader and act on the Management and Research Committees, as well as leading various research projects linking mechanical loading to pain in arthritis. As well as the Bone Research Society Committee, I have served on the British Orthopaedic Research Committee, act as Local Ambassador for the Biochemistry Society in Cardiff, and I am a member of the Executive Board of Cardiff Institute of Tissue Engineering and Repair. In addition to my research, I am an active teacher to undergraduate and MSc students in Biosciences, Genetics, Biochemistry, Medicine and Dentistry and co-ordinate the Molecular Biology Degree Scheme in Cardiff. I regularly contribute to public engagement by giving talks to school children, patients and fundraisers.

I have been an enthusiastic member of the Bone Research Society and its predecessor the Bone and Tooth Society since 1992 and I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve the on the BRS committee.