Profile

I’m in my final year of a PhD – where you learn how to be a science researcher on the job – at a local hospital that treats joint disease (think poorly knees, elbows and ankles). I’m very busy at the moment, being in my final year, but when I get the chance I love to read and bake. I even entered the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pudding Competition this year.

I have also played for a University Quidditch team (being a great fan of Harry Potter) and am currently teaching myself how to play the ukulele. It was something I picked up during the pandemic, and I now know how to play over 20 different songs (lots of Disney and pop music) that I like to sing along to.

Hopefully you know about the building blocks to your body; cells. Well I study molecules that cells use to talk to each other. We hope that we can these as a medicine to treat disease of the joints (think poorly knees, elbows and ankles).

What the particles I study look like – they look shocked, don’t they?

I also work for a hospital and prepare blood samples from people who might be sick. We help them work out why they are sick, since knowing the problem helps us find a solution.

The day of a scientist can be different every day, but usually I start by taking care of cells I have growing – just like a goldfish you need to feed and care for them to be happy!

What the cells I grow look like – this changes depending on the cell type.

In the afternoon, I focus on experiments. Here I study many things about my cells and the molecules they use to communicate. This lets me understand how the human body works normally, and could help me to discover how I can repair it when it’s broken.