Profile
Sophie Richardson
My CV
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Education:
Primary School: Highfields Community Primary School
Secondary School and Sixth Form: Malbank School & Sixth Form College
University: The University of Manchester
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Qualifications:
GCSEs: English Lit & Language, Maths, Statistics, Triple Science, History, Geography, Spanish, RE (short course) – A*-A
AS-level: English Literature (B)
A-level: Maths (A*), Biology (A), Chemistry (A)
Undergraduate: BSc (Hons) Genetics with Industrial Experience – 1st Class
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Work History:
I worked at Sainsbury’s a few shifts a week during my A-levels and when I was home over Christmas and summer from university. It was great for meeting different people and (most importantly) getting some money!
As part of my degree, I spent a year doing work experience. I spent this year with a company called QIAGEN finding ways to improve their gene sequencing methods and working on a method for detecting cancer mutations (changes to the DNA).
After university, I went back to QIAGEN for 6 months before moving to Cancer Research UK Manchester. I started here as a scientific officer in the Cancer Biomarker Centre. This basically means I did lots of experiments for different projects! I started to get more independence on a project about lung cancer, and even got the opportunity to present a poster at a big European cancer conference (unfortunately, it was online and not in a sunny place).
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About Me:
Hi, I’m Sophie, a cancer researcher from Nantwich, Cheshire. When I’m not in the lab, I enjoy playing video games, watching Formula 1 races and baking (and eating it too! 🍰)
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I lived in Manchester for 4 years during my first degree then moved back home to live with my parents. I like living in a town because you can see the countryside but there is also lots to do.
If I could have a pet, I would have a dog.
In my spare time, I also enjoy reading fantasy books and also trying to write my own (although I haven’t made it very far yet!). I enjoy playing video games, like Animal Crossing, watching Marvel & Disney films, and occasionally play netball.
I also help with a girl guide unit in my town. I like doing lots of different activities with them. We once extracted DNA from strawberries, which was pretty fun! My favourite part of Guiding is introducing the girls to new activities, like rock climbing and kayaking.
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Unfortunately, a very very small number of children will have cancer. One of these cancers is Ewing Sarcoma, a rare cancer that is found in the bone. In most cases, the children get better with treatment, but some children continue to be unwell and the cancer will spread, which is called metastasis.
The aim of my work is to find a way to monitor these patients using a blood test. In lots of types of cancer, scientists have found that the cancer cells are leaky and shed genetic material (DNA and RNA) into the blood. Sometimes, cells from tumours will also go into the blood too. We can use many different technologies to find DNA, RNA and cells in the blood of these patients. It is different to genetic material and cells from the rest of the body as cancer has changes to its genetic material called mutations. In Ewing Sarcoma, the genetic material in the cancer cells is mixed up in a unique way, which creates a gene fusion. My project is aiming to find the unique gene fusion in the DNA, RNA and cells in the blood to understand whether the cancer is being treated, or even coming back.
I am currently near the end of the first year of my PhD so we are still understanding how to find these molecules and cells in the blood. I hope that the work we do will help to monitor patients with Ewing Sarcoma, and maybe even other cancers.
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My Typical Day:
I wake up and have my breakfast before driving to work. I usually arrive at 9am, and start by looking at my schedule for the day. Some days, I will have meetings with my supervisors to discuss results or new research on a similar topic to our research. Most days, I will have an experiment to do in the lab, or I need to feed my cells to keep them alive. Other days, there are presentations from other scientists to attend on lots of different topics. Once I’ve finished my to do list, I go home, usually around 5pm.
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My alarm goes off around 7am, but I usually get out of bed at 7:20! I have my breakfast (usually cereal, milk and fruit) before getting in my little blue car to drive to work. I arrive at work around 9am and start my computer. First, I check my emails and have a look at my calendar for the day. On Mondays, I start the day with a meeting with the rest of my research group. We share what we have been doing on our projects and discuss our ideas. Other days, we might have journal clubs to discuss new research from other groups around the world, or listen to talks from other cancer research groups in Manchester.
If I don’t have many meetings, I spend my time planning experiments before getting into the lab. Some experiments are quick and take 1 day. Others take a bit longer and take the whole week, so I have to plan my experiments well to make sure they are right first time.
After all of that, I write my experiments in my lab book. This is so I can remember what I did and what the results were for when I write my experiments into my thesis at the end of my PhD. A thesis is a very long piece of writing that includes everything I have done in my PhD and how I did it.
I try and finish my day at 5pm (sometimes a little bit later). I usually get home just after 6pm, have my tea, then relax and watch some TV with my mum.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Not all schools have access to programmes like I’m a Scientist and are not very close to universities in the cities, nor can they afford to send many children to visit them. I would like to help children outside the city to access programmes, like I’m a Scientist, and travel to visit research institutions in their local city where they can see what a real research lab is like for a day.
I would also like to give a portion of the money to Girlguiding UK to help them develop a specific cancer research or STEM badge for girls to earn.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
baking cancer researcher
What did you want to be after you left school?
Ask 5-year old me and I wanted to be an air hostess on the planes to Disney World! When I was studying for my A-levels, I wanted to do something to help people and thought maybe cancer research would be a good path. Now here I am!
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Very rarely. Although I did get detention once for forgetting my homework...
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Nothing but Thieves and other rock bands
What's your favourite food?
Brownies
Tell us a joke.
I would tell you a good chemistry joke but all the good ones argon.
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