I started my PhD project in Franck Pichaud’s lab in September 2014 after completing 3 two-month rotation projects in UCL as part of the LMCB’s four year PhD programme. Prior to this, I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Cambridge in Natural Sciences and then worked as a research assistant for a year at the LMB in Cambridge. My studies now focus on discovering how mechanical forces might regulate cell packing, differentiation and morphogenesis during neuro-epithelial tissue development.  In order to work toward an integrated view of this problem, I am using a combination of genetics, imaging, laser ablation and in silico modelling. I am investigating this question though two main projects. Firstly, I am characterising a novel role of mechanical forces in regulating the common process of junction remodeling which facilitates exchange of neighbours in an epithelial tissue. I am using the genetically amenable Drosophila retina as a model system. Secondly, I am examining how mechanical forces may contribute to the differentiation of cells. Specifically, I am focussing on how the differentiation of the Drosophila photoreceptors relies upon mechanical constraints built by the neighbouring cells in the tissue.