JR did his undergraduate in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Durham. His career has focused on cell and tissue mechanics during morphogenesis. JR did his PhD in the lab of Professor Brian Stramer (King's College London), where he examined how the mechanics of cell repulsion can generate embryonic patterns. He then went on to a post-doc in the lab of Dr Nic Tapon (The Francis Crick Institute), where he studied how extracellular matrix dynamics initiates tissue growth, and how adhesion distribution can alter monolayer force-balances. In 2022 he was awarded a Dean's Prize fellowship by the University of Manchester, and established The Hungry Tissue Lab.