Profile
Rebecca Saleeb
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About Me:
Hello! I’m Beccy – I live in Edinburgh with my fiancé and our dog, Mollie. I love travelling and chocolate is my greatest weakness!!
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I grew up in the east midlands but I’m half Australian and half Egyptian so I’ve always been curious about different places and cultures. I’ve lived, worked or studied in England, Scotland, Germany, Portugal, and Australia, but I’ve put down roots in Edinburgh now so I could have my gorgeous Shiba Inu dog, Mollie, in my life! When I’m not tinkering in the lab, I’m usually off finding new dog walks, trying new coffee spots, playing squash, or going to Indie music gigs.
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My pronouns are:
She/her
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My Work:
I work with powerful microscopes 🔬 that allow us to see and count single molecules.
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I studied biology at university and was amazed when I first saw a cell dividing under a microscope. I could see the DNA changing shape and everything I had read about and seen cartoon drawings of in textbooks. And from then I was hooked on microscopy!
I then worked with physicists and engineers to develop and use ever better microscopes. Nowadays I use these technologies to find ways to diagnose disease by detecting and counting extremely rare and very small disease-causing molecules (10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair!).
I hope one day that the science I do will help diagnose patients with diseases of the brain (like motor neuron disease). At the moment we can’t diagnose these diseases early enough to help treat patients effectively.
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My Typical Day:
Every day is a little different, but I usually pop back and forth to the lab keeping an eye on experiments while I join meetings, help students, analyse data, or write up.
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I plan my days around my experiments as they can vary a lot. Many of our experiments can take a few days but only need us to be there for 5 minutes here or a couple of hours there. Others are much more intensive and might need two of us to work as a team for most of a day. When I’m not in the lab, I might be helping other members of the team solve problems, I might be analysing data or writing code, I might be reading about science to help me come up with new ideas, or I might be writing papers or preparing a talk.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would use the prize money to create a loanable microscope slide collection for local schools and students to get their own first taste of what microscopy can do!
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Education:
I went to Oakham School in Rutland where I did the International Baccalaureate instead of A Levels, studying English, Maths, German, History, Biology, and Chemistry. I then did a degree in Cell Biology at Durham University during which I spent a year as a trainee in industry. After my degree, I moved to Brisbane in Australia to study a Masters in Biotechnology, and after a couple of years in work, I went back to study for my PhD in Biophysics.
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Qualifications:
- Nine GCSEs (in English, History, Geography, Maths, Double Science, Home Economics, Spanish, French)
- International Baccalaureate diploma
- BSc(hons) in Cell Biology
- Master of Biotechnology
- PhD in biophysics
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Work History:
I took a very unusual path as I wasn’t sure straight away that science research was my calling and I wanted to try other interests too:
- Industrial Trainee Scientist for Pfizer (one year during my degree)
- Marketing and Comms Intern for the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint (4 months)
- Events and Relationship Officer for the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint (18 months)
- Imaging Facility and Technology Manager for the Edinburgh Super-Resolution Imaging Consortium (one year)
- Imaging Scientist for the Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon (one year)
- Imaging Facility Manager for Queen Mary University of London (two years)
- Research Scientist at the University of Edinburgh (3 years and counting)
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Current Job:
Research Fellow
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Employer:
The University of Edinburgh
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
dog-loving microscopist
What did you want to be after you left school?
I didn't know yet
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Nope
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I used to work in charity fundraising event management and I loved that too. I would happily do it again!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
The Killers
What's your favourite food?
Chocolate
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
A free family pass for as much first-class air travel as I like, I wouldn't mind a million pounds, and of course world peace.
Tell us a joke.
I thought I was pretty cool until I realised that plants can eat the sun and poop out air
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