I'm a Keele University post-doc based at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Shropshire. My current project is funded by the GOSH and SPARKS charities to investigate the plethora of proteins produced by cells from patients with different severities of spinal muscular atrophy.

Back pain is recognised as a global issue impacting patients' quality of life and imparting costs on society, and with my two eldest children having herniated discs that required surgery, I know too well the suffering and despondency it can cause.

My Fellowship objective was to learn a specific microscopy technique from Professor Broom's research group in Auckland. Previously, they had used this technique to assess intervertebral discs in sheep spines. The Fellowship gave me an opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge to human degenerative intervertebral discs.

Findings from the Fellowship were presented at an international spine meeting (ISSLS) and a paper published in the European Spine Journal in 2017.

Through the Fellowship, lifelong connections were made, not only with the group I visited, but also with others based at the university, resulting in a visit from them and a return to Auckland for me.