Gemma is a lecturer in the Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences at the Royal Veterinary College, London. Gemma’s research group focuses on insulin resistance and investigating the therapeutic potential of antibodies to treat severe insulin resistance arising from mutations of the insulin receptor. The groups wider research interests include understanding the (patho)physiological role of hybrid INSR/IGF1R receptors in insulin resistance and resultant co-morbidities.
Gemma completed her PhD at the University of Adelaide, Australia (including a sabbatical at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford) where she investigated the interplay between insulin and IGF receptors and how they signal outcomes relevant to cancer biology. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in South Australia, where she worked on a varied and commercially orientated body of work related to improving early detection and diagnosis of colorectal cancer.
Gemma then moved to the UK to undertake a second postdoctoral role at the Institute of Metabolic Science – Metabolic Research Labs, during which, she expanded her understanding of the insulin/IGF system from its role in cancer biology to its role in metabolism. In 2021. Gemma moved on from the IMS-MRL to undertake a lectureship at Anglia Ruskin University, where she established her independent research laboratory and amassed a large amount of teaching experience in cell biology and biochemistry. In June 2024, Gemma left ARU to take up her current post at the RVC.
