I trained in medicine, statistics, and public health epidemiology and completed a DPhil in bacterial population biology supervised by Prof Martin Maiden. My main research theme arising from this has been in integrating bacterial population genetics in the public health epidemiology of human infectious disease. In some cases the main challenge is in identifying the right set of questions that can be addressed by these integrated approaches. My wider research interests focus on developing and applying quantitative and novel research methods to practical public health problems. In this regard "focus" may be a misnomer as this work is fairly diverse.