Rachel obtained a BSc in Biomedical Sciences from Nottingham Trent University, followed by an early career as a research assistant working across multiple laboratories at the University of Birmingham, building a varied portfolio of laboratory skills and projects. She moved to Prof. Chris Bunce’s translational leukaemia and lymphoma research group as a research associate and completed a PhD in novel therapies for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) under his supervision.
She continued to work within Chris’s lab as a senior research fellow, with a focus on the microenvironment in CLL and how to disrupt it.
Passionate about supporting healthcare research, in 2019 Rachel transitioned from bench science to research support, working initially as the research manager for a BHF accelerator award at the University of Bristol. Moving back to Birmingham in 2022, Rachel undertook the role of Centre Manager for the Centre of Membrane Proteins and Receptors (COMPARE) directed by prof. Davide Calebiro.
Rachel is now the Programme Manager for Women’s Health Research. This programme sits in the WHO collaborating Centre for Womens Health Research within the Department of Metabolism and Systems Science (MSS) and is led by Shakila Thangaratinam.