Born 1970 in London, UK. Studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University (1988-1991). Postgraduate studies in Human Genetics at Oxford University (1991-1995). D.Phil. from Oxford University (1996). Postdoctoral research at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford (1996-2002). Royal Society Research Fellow and Head of Molecular Neuroscience at Oxford University (2002-2010). Isobel Laing Fellow in Biomedical Sciences, Oriel College, Oxford University (2007-2010).  Francis Crick Prize Lecture (2008), inaugural Eric Kandel Young Neuroscientists Prize (2009), elected Fellow of Society of Biology (2009). Director and Scientific Member of Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (since 2010).