Profile

I was born in Glasgow but have travelled around the UK studying biology and working as a scientist. I have always been interested in the sciences, especially biology, since I was in high school. I love understanding how the human body works and it never fails to surprise me, even after studying biology for 10 years! More recently, my interests lie in helping others with my passion in biology – sharing my experience as a scientist and explore the ways biologists can make a difference to health care.

Being a scientist is a big part of my life but I have many other hobbies. I enjoy being physically active, going to the gym regularly, wall climbing and arial arts (in another life, I’d have loved to join the circus!). I express my reactive side through DIY projects – I’m currently converting a transit van into a camper van so I can travel more (another passion of mine).

Cancer cells love to multiple and grow to form tumours. Tumours are normally very stiff and there is an exciting new field of cancer research that hopes to understand how cancer cells feel stiffness and how it helps them survive and grow. In my research, I can grow cancer cells in a gel that is either soft or hard. I then study these cancer cells and try to understand how their behaviour changes between soft and hard gels. We can then take this new knowledge, use it against the cancer cells and come up with new treatments to destroy the cancer cells.

I wake up at 6am and head to the gym, this is a great way for me to start my day. I then get to the lab by 9am and look at my diary to see what lab work I need to do and meetings I need to attend. Then at 10am, I join my lab mates for a coffee break – the most important part of the day (caffeine is vital). This is a great time to socialise with the people I work with and who have become my friends. We catch up on gossip and talk about the work we are doing at the moment.

I then spend the rest of my morning doing lab work, some days I am setting up experiments or looking after my cells. At 12pm, I go down for lunch with my lab mates. Sometimes during lunch time there are lectures that we can sit in on – this is a great chance to hear about other peoples research. After lunch, I normally so some more lab work or I analyse results from my experiments. I then go home at 5pm.