I gained my PhD in biochemistry from Imperial College, studying proteins essential for Leishmania transmission in Prof. Debbie Smith’s laboratory. After a postdoctoral period studying the mechanisms of host cell modification by malaria parasites in Prof. Alan Cowman’s lab at WEHI (Australia) which was funded by a Wellcome Trust Travelling Fellowship, I returned to London and worked as a senior research scientist with Dr Tony Holder at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research. I developed tools for live cell imaging technology of host cell invasion, as well as multiple gene modification technologies for Plasmodium most notably CRISPR/Cas9 technology tools, coupled with inducible gene regulation methods, allowing for the speedy analysis of gene product functions. I have applied these tools to study the role of proteins involved in host cell invasion in two different Plasmodium species. In 2015 the laboratory moved to the newly founded Francis Crick Institute where I worked until December 2019, before joining the RVC as lecturer in vaccinology. In my new role I am using reverse genetic approaches to study host-parasite interactions not only in blood stages of Plasmodium but also in the related zoonotic protozoan parasite, Babesia, the causative agent of babesiosis in livestock and companion animals. More generally I will be studying Piroplasm invasion biology as well as mechanisms and molecules involved in host cell modifications.