I am a Professor in the School of Computer Science & Informatics at Cardiff University. The main focus of my academic career has been to establish excellence in research related to text mining, which is the key to gaining knowledge for significant interventions and decision making in the context of big data. This makes it indispensible to other disciplines. In particular, I have made contributions in areas of text classification, information extraction, term recognition and sentiment analysis (see infographics). Most often, my research has found its applications in health and life sciences, where it has led to deep interdisciplinary collaboration leading to impact beyond computer science. For example, I am a co-founder of HealTex, the UK Healthcare Text Analytics Network, a multi-disciplinary research network that aims to facilitate the use of healthcare free text (clinical notes, letters, social media post, literature) in research and clinical practice.

In 2004, I was awarded PhD from the University of Salford for my work on the use of machine learning for terminological processing in biomedical literature. My doctoral studies were funded by the Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme, an international postgraduate award for selected foreign country nationals to undertake research in the UK. The award is among the most selective and prestigious awards offered to international students and scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic excellence and research potential. I moved on to complete postdoctoral research at the University of Manchester. I joined Cardiff University in 2010 as a lecturer and was promoted to senior lectureship and full chair in 2014 and 2016 respectively. In 2020, I was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, the national academy for arts and sciences.