Profile

Candidate CV questions (extra)

• Education:

  I went to North Chadderton Secondary School in Oldham, Greater Manchester, where I got really interested in science, though I really enjoyed Music, French and English. I decided to carry on with science into A-Levels at Oldham Sixth Form College. I did Chemistry, Biology, Maths and English Literature A-levels. I knew at this point I wanted to be a scientist working with drug molecules and the body. However, I did really enjoy doing English Literature as this was all about analysis, a key skill I use as a scientist now! I got in to study Biological and Medicinal Chemistry at the University of York for an integrated masters (MChem) degree, which I really enjoyed. In my second year, I worked in one of the research laboratories and this made me want to carry on in chemistry research. In my final year , I got to work in the chemistry labs at AstraZeneca, working on cancer treatments. I knew I wanted to go back to a career in drug discovery after this, but I wanted to do more training to work more independently and improve my skills in the lab. I went to the University of Southampton to do a PhD, making compounds with the element fluorine in and looking at how this affected their properties (like density).

• Qualifications:

  I worked for GCSEs in Maths, English Language and Literature, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Music and French. Then I worked at A-Levels in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and English Literature (and AS-level French). I achieved an MChem Integrated Masters degree in Chemistry, then a PhD in Organic Synthetic Chemistry. I am also a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

• Work History:

  My current job is my first job since leaving university. I previously worked as a industrial placement student at AstraZeneca and undertook placements in research lab at the University of York during my degree. I worked with the admissions team in Chemistry, helping at open days and showing prospective students round the laboratories, answering their questions. I visited my old Sixth Form College to present to students about studying Chemistry at university.

  I have also worked as a shop assistant at a charity shop and a large clothing store. I have volunteered for big events like running festivals, most recently the Cambridge Half Marathon which was a lot of fun!

   

• Current Job:

  I work in a chemistry team to find drugs to treat dementia. We work in a laboratory to make drugs, we then give them to biologists to test, then we analyse the results and use them to inform our next designs for compounds to make. I also look at other properties that are needed to make a good drug, like how it is dissolved to get into the body, how it is removed from the body and how much of it gets to where we want it to go.

• Employer:

  I work for the University of Cambridge in the ALBORADA Drug Discovery Institute, where we try find new drugs to treat dementia.