I graduated as a physicist, then carried out research for an MSc and PhD in Biophysics - all London University degrees. I subsequently moved to Cambridge, to the Department of Radiotherapeutics, holding a Beit Memorial Fellowship for Medical Research and the Wheldale-Onslow Memorial Fellowship at Newnham College, Cambridge University. My next move was to Manchester, to the Paterson Laboratories (cancer research), and then the University of Manchester. My research topics have been diverse, most recently Alzheimer's disease, especially, the role of viruses in dementia, and the role of APOE in determining susceptibility to, or outcome of, infection. For the virus work, I won an Investigator award from The Lancet, a Wellcome Trust Innovative award, two Olympus Foundation awards, an Alzheimer's Research Forum award and a Manchester City Council award. I am now emeritus professor, Manchester University, and Visiting Professor, University of Oxford.