Dashboard – I'm a Scientist 2024

About Me:

Hi 👋🏼 My name is Marie and I am 28 years old. I live in Cambridge, but grew up in France 🇫🇷 and the Czech Republic 🇨🇿. I am a researcher in biostatistics 📊 .
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I enjoy travelling, especially by train 🚅.

I love watching and doing sports. I am a former competitive alpine skier ⛷️, dancer 🩰 and tennis player 🎾. I achieved a childhood dream by starting gymnastics at 24 years old, and I still enjoy it very much 🤸🏼‍♀️. I also enjoy running 🏃🏼‍♀️ and playing football ⚽️ with friends.

I have 2 (adorable) cats 🐈 🐈‍⬛.

I like playing video games 🎮.
My pronouns are:

she/her
My Work:

I am a researcher in biostatistics. 📊
In very short, I make biological 🧬 and medical 🩺 data speak.
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On the one hand, I work with clinicians 🩺 and biologists 🧬. They give me data, and I tell them which conclusions can be drawn from them or not. 📊
On the other hand, I develop new methods and tools to analyse the data better. 👩🏼‍🏫

My research interests revolve around personalised medicine. It aims to understand how genetic information affects an individual’s risk of developing a disease, paving the way to earlier diagnosis and better treatments.

I am also very involved in the scientific community. I organise events which bring scientists from various backgrounds together to share their knowledge and experience. I also enjoy organising events for young students, especially girls, to encourage them to pursue STEM careers.
My Typical Day:

I usually get up around 8 am and start working between 9 and 10 am. I like to take my time to prepare, whether working from home or in my research lab. I spend most of my day on my computer, reading scientific literature, programming or writing articles. I try to go home or finish work before 6-7 pm. I like to end my day with a 45-min walk.
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Before starting to work, I like to look at my calendar and see if I have meetings I need to attend or any deadlines I have forgotten about. Then I write everything I want to do on my to-do list. I am involved in several projects, so organisation is key.

I don’t really have a typical day apart from getting up, working on my computer, going home, having a walk or doing some exercise, and chilling in the evening.

👩🏼‍💻 “Working on my computer” can mean several things, depending on the project I am focusing on. I can be reading scientific articles or news, programming my algorithms, or writing the work I have done as notes or scientific articles.

👩🏼‍🏫 Sometimes, I present my work to other scientists. In this case, I need to prepare a visual presentation.

📞 As most of my work is collaborative (and I love that), I often have meetings.

✉️ Last but not least, I also spend a bit of my work time writing and answering emails.
What I'd do with the prize money:

I would organise an event or create resources for students to discover the variety of statistics applications. You may not know that, but statistics are helpful in plenty of fields: biology 🧬, medicine 🩺, ecology 🌿, finance 💷, archaeology 🦕, video games 🎮, sports 🏋🏼, and more.

Candidate CV questions (extra)

Education:

I grew up mainly in France and went to school and university there.

I got my “baccalauréat” (the equivalent of A-level) with science majors (mathematics, biology, physics and chemistry) and a specialisation in mathematics.

Then, I followed a 3-year intensive 3-year study course preparing for the competitive entrance examinations to the top French and highly-selective engineering schools. I got into an engineering school in Strasbourg (Télécom Physique Strasbourg) for a degree in “Information and Communication Techniques for Health”. But I dropped out because there were too many physics courses.

I did my undergraduate in mathematics at the University of Strasbourg, thinking I would become a math teacher. I had introductory courses in statistics that I really enjoyed, and that showed me the diversity of statistics applications.

I chose to do a Master’s degree in statistics. In my 2nd year, I discovered research in personalised medicine and pursued a PhD in statistics to follow this career path. Both degrees were obtained at the University of Strasbourg.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in mathematics (2016)
- Master’s degree in applied mathematics, specialised in statistics (2018)
- PhD in applied mathematics (2021)
Work History:
Internships during my studies:
- Technico-commercial assistant @ Allianz, La Défense, France (2016)
- Data Scientist @ Sogeclair Aerospace (on behalf of Airbus Helicopters), Marignane, France (2017)
Jobs after my PhD:
- Postdoctoral researcher in genetic epidemiology @ Université Paris Cité, France (2021-2022)
Employer:

University of Cambridge

My Interview
- What did you want to be after you left school?
  
  Flight attendant, aviation engineer, biology or math teacher
  
  Were you ever in trouble at school?
  
  I was a victim of bullying.
  
  If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
  
  Math teacher
  
  Who is your favourite singer or band?
  
  Taylor Swift, Linkin Park
  
  What's your favourite food?
  
  Loaded french fries
  
  Tell us a joke.
  
  "There is a banana in your ear. - What? - There is a banana in your ear. - What? Speak louder, there is a banana in my ear!" (First joke I remember hearing, at school at the age of 6 haha)