Profile
Angela Short
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About Me:
I live in Caerphilly, South Wales with my elderly cat. When I’m not working as a Biomedical Scientist, I like to go on long hikes and wild camp.
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I live in a small village and love going on long hikes and finding a quiet spot to wild camp (leave no trace). I also like to cook and my favorite kitchen gadget is my dehydrator which I use to dry out food, for example fruit.
I also like to knit and watch horror movies 🙂
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My pronouns are:
she/her
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My Work:
I’m a Biomedical Scientist with a specialism in Virology.
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I’m a Biomedical Scientist with a specialism in Virology. Practically this means that I test samples from patients to help the clinical staff diagnose why the patient is ill and what treatments are most likely to help them. I specialise in infectious diseases caused by Viruses which can range from common colds to HIV.
I have special responsibilities to help train other scientists and also to help people to become scientists.
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My Typical Day:
My lab is based in a hospital so we have to be open to accept samples 24/7. This means that I may have to work different shifts to help make sure the lab always has a scientist available if needed.
A ‘normal’ workday might start at 8:30, and the first job is to help sort out the specimens that need to be tested that day. Then I can set up my test then go to lunch. After lunch, I can read the results and report the results so that the clinical team (doctors and nurses) can make sure the patient is on the right treatment. I might set up a follow-up test, hand over my work to the person on the late shift, and I will finish work at 5:00.
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Part of my job is to train new scientists. This can be new people straight out of school or people who have been working as scientists for years. We always have something new to learn here!
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would develop more materials to help show people how interesting Microbiology can be. I would get a big UV light and UV gels and powders to help people visualize the importance or good hand hygiene and infection control.
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
A Microbiologist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No, I was very quiet in school.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
A Science teacher
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Guns and Roses or Queen
What's your favourite food?
Chocolate
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Be braver and taller with more pets
Tell us a joke.
Two men walk into a bar, first man says 'I'll have a glass of H2O please'. The second man says 'I'll have H2O too please'. Second man dies.
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