Profile
Breeshey Roskams-Hieter
My CV
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Education:
High school: York House School, Vancouver, BC, Canada
University: McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada + exchange semester at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Research assistant after graduating: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
PhD (post-grad): University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Qualifications:
Finished high school with a 4.0 GPA
Finished at McGill University with a 3.55 GPA
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Work History:
Worked at Booster Juice (smoothie store) for 2 years in high school, along with a burger shack for a summer.
In my summers off from Uni, I worked at a restaurant in Vancouver as a hostess and busser. The following summer I worked as an undergraduate researcher in a laboratory at McGill University which I continued on part-time throughout the rest of my undergraduate degree.
After I graduated, I worked as a Senior Research Assistant at OHSU in the computational biology group for three years.
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About Me:
I live in Edinburgh with two flatmates, and some of my favourite activities include playing field hockey, going to concerts and exploring new areas around Edinburgh! I am originally from Canada and have just moved to Scotland in the past year 🙂
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I am a huge music fanatic, having sung in many choirs and competitions in high school, as well as played piano and guitar. This has transferred now into a passion for finding new music and making spotify playlists. I also have played field hockey since I was 8 years old, and am beyond excited to live in a place that has such great leagues as a part of it. Additionally, I am a massive dog person, and you can find me taking breaks from school by walking my flatmates dog, a corgi named Ziggy. Another passion of mine includes traveling – I got to travel solo in 2017 for the first time when I went around south east Asia for 2 months, followed by an exchange semester in Melbourne, Australia, and it fed my passion for traveling!
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My previous work used an approach called “cell-free RNA-sequencing” to see the genes that are expressed in someone’s blood. We then used a variety of methods to identify the genes which were increased in people with cancer compared to healthy individuals. We were able to use these few genes to accurately classify someone as being at risk for cancer and not. Currently, I am really interested in looking at different types of data in people with severe COVID-19 and people with mild COVID-19, and merging these types of data together in unique ways to tease apart the reason why some people have severe symptoms and others do not.
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My Typical Day:
I wake up and make breakfast (yogurt, fruit and granola!), have a coffee and then get ready for the day. I head into the office for 9am and work on my to-do list for that week. This includes things like reading new papers, and trying out new analysis techniques. I generally have a few zoom meetings throughout the day, have lunch with friends around 12pm, and continue working until about 5pm. Then I head home to make dinner!
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Generally my meetings are related to things I am working on, where I get stuck and I need to ask someone for advice that has expertise in that area. I think that collaborating with other people is really key and important to doing well-done research. Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Musical dog-loving data scientist
What did you want to be after you left school?
Honestly, no clue! I was interested in exploring what research had to offer.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Once or twice!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
That is a really difficult question.. but I do honestly love Taylor Swift, along with Charli XCX and Frank Ocean.
What's your favourite food?
I love all Japanese food! Also love a classic grilled cheese and tomato soup.
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. Be challenged and satisfied in my career 2. Continue to surround myself with amazing people! 3. Make the most of my time by experiencing as much as I can
Tell us a joke.
What do biologists post on instagram? .... Cell-fies (hahaha) ...
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