Val's clinical interests are in prostate cancer and in testing the potential of novel signalling inhibitors to enhance sensitivity to conventional anti-cancer treatments.

She qualified as a doctor at Charing Cross Hospital Medical School and trained in Medical Oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital London and Churchill Hospital Oxford. Following a PhD with Alan Ashworth at Chester Beatty Laboratories in London, her postdoctoral training was supported by MRC Clinician Scientist and Cancer Research UK Senior Clinical Fellowships.