Bridging the gap between experimental physiological and public health (particularly epidemiology), my own work focuses on three principal areas:

i) The interaction of lifestyle factors, particularly sedentary behaviour, and the link between premature vascular ageing and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. I have led experimental research studies investigating the impact of lifestyle behaviours on cardiovascular function and novel exercise therapies on vascular health in stroke survivors.

ii) The development of non-invasive tools to assess early vascular ageing and CVD risk to facilitate early CVD prevention. With expertise in interpreting physiological signals, I have developed and validated simple tools to assess vascular ageing and demonstrated the utility of vascular ageing biomarkers for the prediction of CVD. Through this work I have been proficient in applying advanced methods to consolidate diagnostic, clinical, and demographic data drawn from databases; interrogate and appropriately analyse large datasets; and interpret and summarise complex models.

(iii) The translation of basic and applied science into public health outcomes. This work has included defining optimal targets and behavioural strategies for reducing sedentary behaviour and publishing recommendations for the use of non-invasive vascular ageing tools in supporting CVD risk stratification in clinical practice.

I am the translational cardiovascular physiology lead for the Health and Care Research Wales (HCRW) funded National Cardiovascular Research Network (NCRN), Wales. Our theme mission is to take mechanism-orientated laboratory innovation through clinical trials and facilitate policy development to inform clinical and public health CVD treatment and prevention. To do this we are working to sustainably grow cardiovascular research capacity and expertise across Wales by establishing a visible network and forum for interdisciplinary research and facilitate cross-institutional research and funding bids (and delivering of awarded studies) to conduct international recognised and impactful cardiovascular research on topics of national policy priority.