Profile

I went to medical school and studied an intercalated science degree, and then worked and studied for seven years before starting my PhD.  People often say that it sounds like a really long time to be studying, but you meet lots of great people along the way. I had no idea that doctors could be scientists because I don’t come from a medical family – in fact my school was a state school specialising in performing arts, so I’ve been learning what a medical career is as I go along!  I also play the violin and viola, and recently I joined a triathlon club, so I’m always looking to try new things.  Since moving to Edinburgh I’ve really enjoyed exploring the countryside and coastlines, and exploring these with new friends.

My PhD project looks at extrachromosomal DNA.  All the genetic code in our bodies exists on a long structure called DNA, and these are packaged into chromosomes.  You might have learned about chromosomes, and how we have 23 pairs (46 in total) – 23 from each parent.  Chromosomes are organised and follow certain rules – for example, when cells divide, each cell ends up with 23 pairs of chromosomes exactly.  What’s amazing is that our cells do this many, many times every day, all over our bodies, and constantly check it’s happening correctly.

In cancer, we know that cancer cells, and brain cancer cells in particular, can have genetic code that is not organised onto chromosomes.  This genetic code is small, circular and can be copied many times over.  We call this genetic code extrachromosomal DNA, because it is literally DNA that is extra to the chromosomes.  Extrachromosomal DNA is powerful when it contains cancer information, called cancer genes.  Because it doesn’t need to follow the rules, cancer genes on extrachromosomal DNA can end up being copied many, many times – essentially super-powering that cancer gene.

My research looks at how extrachromosomal DNA organises itself in brain cancer cells, and whether these cancer genes work together to increase their super powers.  If we can understand that, we might be able to find new treatments for patients with brain cancer.

A typical day is impossible to say!  I really do spend a lot of time ‘thinking’ which is quite different to my days in the hospital where I am usually seeing and making plans for patients.

When I am in the lab, I am doing experiments with brain cancer cells that we have to look after in a very clean environment.  It’s really amazing to think that patients agreed to give these cells from brain cancer operations and I can literally look at them down a microscope.

A lot of my research involves making extrachromosomal DNA glow, looking at it down a microscope and thinking of ways to measure and count what I’m seeing.  I would never have expected it, but microscope work is one of my favourite things to do.  It’s really cool to see cancer genes glowing in red or green around blue chromosomes and thinking that you made that happen.

One big difference between being in the hospital and being a researcher is that I can be more flexible about my working day.  In the hospital, patients come to clinic, or if you are on call, you have to be there or available at set times.  In research, although I try to work roughly 9am-5pm, sometimes it doesn’t work out like that – I might need to pick something up from another lab, or need to do a lot of writing for a report, and sometimes experiments run late.  My time as a doctor has really taught me how important it is to have work/life balance though, so I try to work sensibly.  Breaks are also really important – both for your wellbeing and for science.  During my Masters, my entire project was saved because of a conversation I had with a friend over coffee – she made me see my problem in a totally different way!  I love how science can be sociable like that.