I’m from Armagh in Northern Ireland, but went to uni in Lancaster. After graduating in advertising, and having realised I never wanted to work in advertising, I spent 18 months working on HIV projects in Tanzania and then Ethiopia. I learnt more than I achieved and came back keen to tackle the systemic causes of the poverty I’d witnessed – in particular the trade laws that prevented access to life-saving HIV medicines. I interned at People & Planet and a few other organisations before getting a job with the STOPAIDS coalition, first leading the student campaign network and then coordinating their campaigning and advocacy with a focus on access to medicines. Over recent years it’s become increasingly clear that the profit-driven pharmaceutical industry model is not only undermining the AIDS response and the right to health across the developing world, it is threatening the health of everyone, and the future of the NHS. I’m now working with others to build a campaign in the UK to challenge the pharmaceutical companies, end the current medical R&D model and replace it with a publicly funded, health needs driven system. I also like cycling and bad dancing.