Profile

I really enjoy cycling, going for long walks with friends. I am also a volunteer with scouts which lets me contribute to my local community, while also learning loads myself – I went from never having touched a drill before to making my own wooden bird box in the space of a few months.

Genes are made up of DNA, the instruction manual for every cell in our body. Cancer is the disease which happens when genes change (‘mutate’) in a way that causes some cells to divide uncontrollably and eventually form a lump or tumour which can spread around the body. Some people are born with certain gene changes which make them slightly more likely to develop cancer when they get older.

In my job, I am researching one particular gene. We know that if this gene doesn’t work, people are more likely to get bowel cancer. I’m trying to work out how this gene helps stop people getting bowel cancer, and why it seems to work differently in men versus women.

I hate getting up in the morning, but try to make it to the lab by 9:30am! In the lab I have both cancer and healthy cells growing in special incubators to look at how changes in the DNA affect how they grow. I also spend a lot of time at my computer – reading scientific papers, planning my research, analysing data and writing up experiments.