With a background in mammalian genetics and virology, I began endocrine research as post-doctoral scientist with Iain Robinson at the National Institute for Medical Research, London in 1999. I became a group leader with a remit to complement ongoing studies of the growth hormone axis whilst initiating studies into the regulation of lactotrophs. I am now based at the University of Manchester. I generate and use rodent genetic models to study the regulation of hypothalamic-pituitary axes from organ development through to adult function and how this relates to pituitary plasticity, deficiency and tumours