Profile

My CV

• Education:

  I went to Bishop’s Hatfield Girls School from Year 7 all the way to the end of Sixth form.

• Qualifications:

  GCSEs – Mathematics, English literature, English language, biology, chemistry, geography, French, R.E., Graphic design, Art

  A-Levels – Biology, Geography, Chemistry, Extended Project Qualification

  Degree – Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Bath

• Work History:

  I started my first job at the age of 15 in my local hairdresser as an assistant every Saturday! It was super hard work, but constantly interacting with customers helped to improve both my confidence and communication skills. It also helped me to develop a good work ethic and punctuality, which I still benefit from in my role today.

  During this time, I also carried out work experience at the University of Hertfordshire for a total of 5 days. I worked alongside master’s students to investigate muscle contraction. In an independent experiment, I evaluated the effect of a chemical, acetylcholine, and an inhibitor, atropine, on a rat intestine. First, I independently performed a dissection of the rat intestine and followed this with an investigation into the effects of varying concentration of acetylcholine and atropine on muscle contraction. This gave me my first real insight into the life of a laboratory scientist and fueled my love of science!

  After 2 years, I left my job as a hairdresser’s assistant to work at Tesco as a store colleague in the general merchandise department. I had this job throughout most of my undergraduate degree, so balancing my work alongside my studies helped me to improve my time management and adaptability.

  Additionally, during the summer of 2019 I took on the role of a camp counsellor at a summer camp in Maine. I had a fantastic time working with a team of 10 counsellors to supervise and care for a group of 30 children for 7 weeks. The role required a high degree of communication and teamwork to provide a seamless and enjoyable experience for the campers, as every activity required different skills, including both organisation and improvisation.

  As part of my undergraduate degree, I worked as a placement student at the UK Health Security Agency. As part of a dedicated COVID-19 team, my role involved preparing and testing of human/animal blood to measure antibody levels to SARS-CoV-2 antigens. I was also part of the lateral flow device (LFD) team, my role was to investigate the newly developed lateral flow tests, using human saliva and nasal samples, to assess how successful they were at diagnosing COVID-19.

   

• Employer:

  Wellcome Sanger Institute