I originally trained as a nurse and subsequently worked in a variety of clinical settings. I then studied for a BA in Human Sciences at Oxford University and an MSc in Health Planning and Financing at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics. On completion of my MSc I was appointed project co-ordinator of a study which assessed the economic burden of hospital acquired infections and this became the basis of my PhD thesis, which focused on the economic burden of infections occurring in surgical patients. I became involved with the LSHTM distance-learning programme in November 2001 and I am currently the Programme Director for the Public Health PgCert/PgDip/MSc programme.