Joe received an MSci degree in chemistry with first-class honors from Imperial College, completing project work under Prof. Richard Templer on the phase changes of liquid crystals. He then continued his studies in the USA and was an awarded a PhD in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008. His thesis explored the re-engineering of ferritin proteins to act as scaffolds for nanoparticle formation, work undertaken with the guidance of Prof. Ivan Dmochowski. Joe then stayed in Philadelphia to work with Prof. Dennis Discher, developing proteomic methods to study the nucleoskeletal lamin proteins and their roles in mechanotransduction. In 2014, he was awarded a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship to develop his own program of research at the University of Manchester.