After gaining a double first-class honours degree, Joanne undertook her doctoral research at the University of Oxford, focusing on zoonotic disease within the UK, including the impact of parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii on host behaviour. Following a year as an NHS Clinical Scientist, she returned to Oxford as a Junior Research Fellow, Lecturer in Infectious Diseases and Royal Society University Research Fellow.

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In 2003, Joanne accepted a Professorship at Imperial College London's Faculty of Medicine and served as co-Director of the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) from its inauguration, providing anthelminthic treatments to children and at-risk adults across sub-Saharan Africa. In 2014, she joined the Royal Veterinary College to expand her global One Health research, with a primary focus on schistosomiasis.

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Joanne's research and disease control activities have been recognised with numerous awards including, for example, the C.A. Wright Medal (2005) for outstanding contribution to parasitology; The Queen's Anniversary Medal (2008), awarded as part of SCI, for contributions to the health of children in Africa; the Chalmers Memorial Medal (2013) for outstanding contribution to Tropical Medicine; and the Royal Society Leeuwenhoek Medal and Lecture (2024) for achievements in advancing the control of parasitic disease in humans and animals across Asia and Africa.

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Joanne served as Associate Director for the LCNTDR from its establishment in 2013 and became Director in 2022.

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Joanne was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2022 and a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2025.