I study how lipids impact the function of immune cells. Much of my previous work has focused on how certain types of lipids are able to induce inflammation in macrophages and the consequences of such activation on metabolic disease.

My current work seeks to understand at the global level the lipid landscape of the immune system and how differences in the abundance of specific lipids in distinct immune cell types influences immune cell function. We use a number of approaches to address these topics, these include in vitro and in vivo animal models, mass-spectrometry based lipidomics (in collaboration with Peter Meikle, also at the Baker Institute), and computational biology (in collaboration with Dr Peter Bond at the A*STAR Bioinformatics Institute).

I have held several NHMRC grants, including a current one (2024–2026) that seeks to understand: (i) the importance of ferroptosis (a lipid-dependent form of cell death) in cell physiology; and (ii) whether susceptibility to ferroptosis can be modulated by diet for clinical  benefit.

I am also Co-Chair of the Baker Institute’s Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and a key advocate in the Institute’s journey toward an Athena Swan Silver award.