Catherine undertook her BSc Genetics (Hons 1) at University of Sydney in 1995 followed by her PhD in Molecular Plant Pathology at the University of Cambridge, under a Cambridge Commonwealth Trust scholarship. On her return to Australia in 2000 she commenced in the healthcare sector in the discipline of genetic testing with Sydney IVF (now Genea). Over the next 15 years she worked in global healthcare organisations - Roche, and Sonic Healthcare, in a variety of management and leadership positions. She led teams in the implementation of new molecular diagnostics assays across infectious disease and genetics portfolios, and was instrumental to the expansion of the genetic testing service provided by Sonic Genetics including cardiac genetics, pharmacogenomics, prenatal testing and oncogenetics.  In 2017 Catherine moved with her family from Sydney to Orange, and since that time has developed a strong passion for rural healthcare and improving rural health outcomes. She joined CSU School of Rural Medicine in 2022, and now as Director, Research and Evaluation, is dedicated to undertaking research to improve rural health outcomes. Her focus is on the MD student research program, and developing a strong and passionate research team committed to suppporting rural and remote clinicians to undertake critical research in areas of need. Research focus areas include all issues that impact people living in rural and remote areas, including mental health, drugs and alcohol, diabetes, obesity, and challenges faced by LGBTQI people in rural settings. She is also passionate about participating and supporting Indigenous research.