I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Craniofacial Biology Research Group, Adelaide Dental School, Adelaide University. I work closely with Prof Alan Brook, and Prof Toby Hughes, as well as other members of the research group.

My research centres on Orofacial tissues i.e., structures of the mouth and jaw, and across two complementary lines of inquiry, one contemporary, and one historical.

Firstly, for the International Tooth Agenesis Network (ITAN) project. This project will apply machine learning to develop software that uses 3D images to measure tooth crown, dental arch and palate morphology with the aim to advance understanding of orofacial development and characterise the effects of congenitally missing teeth (i.e., Tooth Agenesis) on the anatomical surrounding structures. Large-scale data acquisition is required for this advanced software development. The ITAN project places the School of Dentistry, Adelaide University, and South Australia as the central hub of this important multi centre collaboration with universities in Hong Kong, London, Otago, Sydney and Western Cape Town. I oversee compliance with ethics and data-sharing requirements with the international collaborators, as well as ‘hands on’ research using customised 3D software for precision measurement of the dentition. The developed software has potential clinical benefits by providing a basis for enhanced diagnosis and treatment planning for personalised, precision dental care.

The second line of research examines the oral and skeletal health of a group of 19th-century early European migrant settlers to South Australia, interred in an unmarked section of St Mary’s Church Cemetery, near Adelaide. This area was reserved for people who could not afford the cost of a burial. Due to redeveloped, and upon request of the Church the unidentified individuals were archaeologically excavated. Macroscopic, radiographic, micro-CT, histological, examinations of the individuals were undertaken. Recently, proteomic, and genomic analyses of archaeological teeth and bones from this group have also been undertaken. Findings from these data sources are integrated with historical sources such as ships' logs, government documents and church records. The combination of diverse data sources allows me to investigation the life challenges faced within this section of the early settler community, morbidity and mortality rates,  as well as their individual’s systemic health status.

Across both lines of research, I view dental development as a window onto overall developmental health: the developing dentition records and integrates the systemic insults an individual endures during infancy and early childhood, leaving developmental defects that act as durable biological markers of that history. Health emerges from the interaction of many factors 'a whole greater than the sum of its parts', so I value multidisciplinary, multi methodological approaches and resist locating any problem in a single cause.