Karen has had a long-standing interest in healthcare and after obtaining her 1st Class BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology from the University of Bristol (2002) went on to complete a PhD on the expression and role of cannabinoid receptors in T lymphocytes at the University of Bath (2006). This was followed by a 2 year Research Associate position at the University of Leicester (sponsored by AstraZeneca) where she worked on a project which focused on the molecular pharmacology and cellular signalling of the GLP-1R. In July 2008 Karen was appointed to a lectureship here at Loughborough, in support of the EPSRC-funded Doctoral Training Centre for Regenerative Medicine and she was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Biological Engineering in 2013.