[6][3] During her PhD she was introduced by Bob Michell to the subject of inositol lipids as a potential source of second messengers, a topic she pursued during her postdoctoral fellowship at University College London (UCL).
[8][9][10] Cockcroft was awarded a fellowship from the Lister Institute in 1986 and established the Lipid Signalling Group at UCL.
[5][7] She was previously Chair in Cell Biology at UCL and was awarded a programme grant by the Wellcome Trust.
[7] She faced problems when she tried to apply for university, having only four O-levels in Maths, English, British Constitution and Geography.
[7] She was inspired to pursue a career in science by reading biographies of scientists, including William Harvey and Marie Curie.