Profile
Cathy Fernandes
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About Me:
I was born and grew up in Suffolk, England but my parents were Portuguese so I have dual nationality 🇬🇧🇵🇹. I moved to London 🌆to go to university 👩🎓 and I have lived there ever since except for 2 years when I lived in the Netherlands 🇳🇱. I have a diverse taste in music 🎶 and books📚, and when I was younger, I loved dancing 💃.
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I am first-in-family which means I am a student whose parents did not have any experience of higher education. My parents left school when they were 11 years old and my father starting working when he was 13 years old.
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My pronouns are:
she/her
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My Work:
I am a university academic 🎓 which means my work is split between research and teaching. My research looks at the role of nature (genetics 🧬) and nurture (environment 🏡) in shaping our behaviour and mental health 🧠, and I teach these subjects to undergraduate and postgraduate students.
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I use mouse models 🐭🐭🐭 in my research as I can change their genes 🧬and/or environments 🏡 to study the impact on their behaviour and biology. I then try to translate what I find out in mice to humans to understand how these genes and environments impact on us.
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My Typical Day:
I don’t really have a typical day as my work is so varied. Some days, I am teaching all day – either to big groups of students in a lecture theatre or small groups. On other days, I do experiments in the lab with the mice 🐁🐀. Sometimes, I spend a lot of my day in meetings talking about how we can improve the quality of our teaching and the experience of our students, or in meetings with other scientists I collaborated with in my research. I work very long hours, and sometimes on weekends, but I love my work.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I think the best way to learn about science is to experience science in action and see or run an experiment. If I win the prize money, I will use it to pay for a group of students to travel to my workplace and visit my lab, and some of the other labs to experience some real research in action.
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Education:
I went to school at St Benedict’s RC Upper School in Bury St Edmunds which was a small school (~400 students) and graduated with A levels in Biology, Chemistry & Mathematics in 1988. I went to university in 1988 at King’s College, part of the University of London, to study BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology with Toxicology (the study of drugs and poisons). This was a 4 year degree as it included a placement year working industry at Schering Agrochemicals Ltd, Essex. After my undergraduate degree, I took up a place to study for my PhD at Guy’s Hospital in London, which was part of the United Medical & Dental Schools of Guy’s & St. Thomas’s Hospitals, in London. I got my PhD in 1996.
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Qualifications:
- O levels in Mathematics (A grade), English Language (C grade), English Literature (A grade), Physics (A grade), Chemistry (A grade), Biology (A grade), History (A grade), French (B grade), Religion (B grade) in 1986.
- A levels in Mathematics (B grade), Chemistry (B grade), Biology (A grade) in 1988.
- BSc (Hons, 1st Class) Pharmacology with Toxicology in 1992.
- PhD Thesis title: “Factors influencing the development of diazepam dependence in the rat” in 1996.
- Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP, merit) in 2011.
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Work History:
- School Education Lead, Mental Health & Psychological Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (2015-present)
- Reader, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (2018-2021)
- Senior Lecturer, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (2014-2018)
- Interim Assistant Dean of Education, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (2017-2018)
- Lecturer, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London (2011-2014)
- RCUK Fellow, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London (2007-2011)
- Marie Curie Research Fellow, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University of Utrecht, Netherlands (2006-2007)
- Postdoctoral Research Worker, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London (2001-2006)
- Research Assistant, Royal Free & University College Medical School (2000-2001)
- Education Officer, The Migraine Trust (1998-2000)
- Research Fellow, UMDS Guy’s & St. Thomas’s Hospitals (1996-1998)
- Research Assistant, UMDS Guy’s & St. Thomas’s Hospitals (1992-1996)
- European Managing Editor for the international scientific journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior (1995-1998)
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Current Job:
- Professor, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (2021-present)
- School Education Lead, Mental Health & Psychological Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (2015-present)
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Employer:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn), a faculty of King’s College London (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/)
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
behaviour geneticist and educator
What did you want to be after you left school?
a research scientist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
no
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
school teacher
Who is your favourite singer or band?
The White Stripes
What's your favourite food?
Cheese (any type)
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To travel to every country in the world; To speak multiple languages; To be young again
Tell us a joke.
How do you get Pikachu on a bus? You poke-him-on (Pokemon)
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