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Leon Willis
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About Me:
I’m Leon, a scientist at the University of Leeds. When I’m not in the lab, I like having a laugh with my friends and family, playing the piano and getting some fresh air in the hills!
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I’ve always been interested in science from being young, but never knew I’d end up doing my current job. Specifically, I wanted to know how medicines work and how they make people better. After doing my A-levels and first degree, I ended up working on new medicines at the University of Leeds in 2014 as a PhD student and have stayed ever since!
I’ve been lucky enough to make lots of friends while I’ve been at University. I spend my weekends with them going for walks, drinks and having a laugh. My laugh is noted for being loud and infectious- people know when I am somewhere because they can hear me! Being from Sheffield originally, I don’t have too far to go to see my friends and family there too, especially since lockdown! I also really like cooking and playing my piano- great ways to get away from my science at the end of a busy day!
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Proteins are biological molecules which make life possible. They are made of long chains of amino acids, which fold up into a different shapes. These shapes allow them to do their job,e.g weaving together like a rope to make your hair and skin, or folding into a Y-shape so they can stick to viruses and bacteria. These Y-shaped ‘antibody’ proteins are the type I study, as they can be used as medicines to stick to things in your body which don’t work properly.
The amino acid chains of proteins can unravel and stick together if their structure changes; this sticking together is called aggregation. If it happens to an antibody medicine, this bad, as the aggregates can make patients ill. My research looks at how antibodiesΒ might unravel when they squirted through thin tubes like needles. If we understand why this happens, we can take steps to stop it in future.
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My Typical Day:
I wake up at 7am, get ready and walk to work (20 mins away) around 9am. I get to work and have a coffee, then get in the lab. I have lunch around 1pm then get back to work. I usually go home around 6 pm.
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I like a leisurely morning ( I don’t like Winter mornings!), so I get up at 7 am, read the news while I have a drink and then get ready for work around 8am. I leave around 9 am and walk 20 minutes through a park on my way to the University.
Once there, I will have a coffee and check my emails (a common thing for scientists to do!) and get on with my lab work around 10 am. Depending on what experiments I have to do, I may get 40 mins for lunch, sometimes less. But I make sure I have a break in the afternoon when my lab work is nearly finished! Hometime on lab days is generally a bit later (~6 pm) than if I have a ‘desk day’.
I spend desk days (usually Fridays) analysing my results, writing reports for my supervisors and make presentations for the companies who fund my research, some of whom are based in the USA. I sometimes present these results to other scientists in our lab meetings, or sometimes at a bigger event like a conference (where lots of scientists meet to share results with one another).
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would spend the money further develop our lab’s outreach portfolio for our “Proteins behaving badly” exhibit and my “Can you cook and egg without heating it?” workshop.
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Education:
Abbeydale Grange School 2002-2008 (Y7-Y11)
Sheffield College, Peaks 2008-2010 (A-levels)
University of Sheffield 2010-2014 (undergraduate degree)
University of Leeds 2014- current (PhD 2014-2018, post-doc since 2018)
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Qualifications:
GCSE’s: 2 A*s, 7 A’s and 2 B’s in English Language and Literature, Maths, Science (double award), Music, Geography, History, French, RE and Citizenship.
A-Levels: Biology (A), Chemistry (B), English Language (B) and Geography (A*)
Integrated Masters degree (MChem) 1st class Hons in Biological Chemistry, University of Sheffield
PhD in Molecular Biophysics (School of Molecular and Cellular Biology), University of Leeds
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Work History:
During my A-levels at college, I worked at Birthdays Card shop as a Christmas temp worker, Dec 2008. I then got a part-time job at Morrisons as a grocery assistant (stacking shelves, warehouse work etc) between May 2009 and Aug 2010. I worked every Thursday and Friday in the evening.
This was hard work, but the money I saved, together with the bursary I received whilst an undergraduate student, meant I could move to Halls of Residence when I was 18. I received this bursary as I went to an under-performing school in Sheffield and was the first in my family to go to University. I was very fortunate to get this, as it meant I did not have to work whilst I studied.
While at the University of Sheffield, I would do some outreach activities in the Schools’ lab over Summer, getting paid to help the academics in charge of these lessons.
As a PhD student, if your project is funded by the government, industry or a charity, you get paid to do your research. So I did not have another job while studying in Leeds.
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Current Job:
I have been a post-doc, in the same lab I did my PhD research in, since October 2018.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Piano-playing protein squisher
What did you want to be after you left school?
I wanted to be a drug researcher (and here I am!)
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Yuja Wang (she's a classical pianist)
What's your favourite food?
Pizza
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1) Wish for a million wishes :-) 2) A grand piano 3) A job in the Southern Hemisphere between October and March (less cold and wind)!
Tell us a joke.
Know any jokes about sodium? Na!
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