Research Theme
Cardiology
Research Group
Department/Faculty Affiliations
Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics
Current Area of Research
Stem cells (hiPSC, hESC), Organoids, Mechanobiology
Rachel is a first-year PhD student Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick, fully funded by the Medical Research Council, and co-supervised at the University of Oxford.
Their research focuses on understanding how cardiac tissues form, self-organise, and remodel during development, and how disruptions to these processes contribute to congenital heart disease. Their PhD project combines the in vivo Drosophila model and in vitro human stem cell–derived cardiac organoids to study how genetic, cellular, and mechanical cues interact during heart development.
Prior to starting their PhD, Rachel completed a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science and an MSc in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, and undertook a research internship at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire investigating heart rate increase as a clinical predictor of recurrence following cryoballoon catheter ablation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.