I am a neuroscientist by training (2012), Founder of MindTorch (2013), Alzheimer's Research UK Inspire Grant recipient (2019), and researcher developer for postdoctoral researchers and fellows (Imperial College London, 2020). My background is in mentoring, coaching and leadership development, with a focus on empowering researchers and students with the information, tools and networks to achieve their career goals.

Having experienced the benefits of mentoring, as a mentee and mentor, I believe mentors are essential for success. However, for many students mentoring is an afterthought. In the UK, young people are encouraged to go to university to increase their chances of finding good jobs upon graduation, but they are left with little information or real-world experience about how to translate academic knowledge into a career. However, the USA has mentoring organisations with over 100 years' experience and impact. Ultimately, my goal was to travel to the USA to learn how to develop and sustain a mentoring programme that can be modelled in UK universities.