Profile
Ann Ager
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About Me:
I live in the Vale of Glamorgan (in Wales) with my husband in a small village with the very welsh name of Ystradowen (it means Owen’s valley). I like playing tennis and I am trying to learn the piano but it is very hard.
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I moved to Wales 13 years ago with my husband and my young daughter who graduated from Uni in 2018 and now works in London. I live in the countryside and get woken up by the noise of sheep and horses rather than cars. My job is pretty full on (but I enjoy it a lot) and I relax by binge watching boxsets on my daughter’s Netflix account, cooking and eating cakes, playing tennis 😎 and learning the piano which is hard 😞. I love to go to the cinema and to see dance (I really like ballets such as the Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty). When I moved to Wales, I found out that I really like singing (the Welsh love to sing and are good at it) and I discovered opera so that is something else I like to go to.
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How do immune cells get to the right place at the right time?
Our immune system defends our body against infection and illness and get rid of anything unfamiliar like germs. Our immune system also detects when our bodies get ill with cancer or with other illness that are may not be caused by germs such as heart disease and dementia.
I am trying to find out how the immune system detects which parts of the body are not working properly making us ill and how immune cells get there to get rid of germs or to repair the damage that has been done. I have already found that we can change immune cells in the laboratory and make more of them get to infected tissues so they are better at killing viruses such as the ones that causes flu and covid-19.
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My Typical Day:
I am an early bird and I like to have a relaxed breakfast if I can before I start work by checking emails at home, just in case there are any urgent things that I have to do. It takes me 45 minutes to get to my office and I use this time in the car to plan my day and to catch up with the news on the radio or listen to music.
My working day is spent mostly in front of a computer 😞 and speaking to my work buddies which is mostly 😎 and my students which is always 😎. Sometimes my students ask me to help them which means that I put on a white coat and go into the laboratory (like a big kitchen with sinks, microwaves, fridges and freezers full of liquids and foodie like things). I carefully watch what they are doing to see if anything is slightly wrong and if it is, I show them how to do it. I come home around 5.30 in time to cook and eat dinner with my family and usually just flop on the sofa for the evening 😀 because I am tired.But since March 2020, the Welsh Government wants me to work at home whenever I can so most days I climb the stairs after breakfast to a spare bedroom in my house which has become my office. I use Zoom a lot to speak to my students but I don’t really like it and would be much happier seeing them face to face.
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I don’t really have a typical day and every day is different which is what I like about being a scientist. One day, I might be looking at the results from an experiment that no-one else in the world has done before (well, not that I know of) and this is really exciting. Another day, I might have a lot of forms to fill in on the computer 😞 but this has to be done for science as it is for most jobs. Sometimes I get real surprises, like the day I walked into my office and it had been decorated by the people in my team because I had just been promoted to being a Professor. This was a really happy day for me and I am so proud of every member of my team since it was thanks to them and their hard work that I had been promoted. Here is me celebrating with a glass of champagne in my decorated office and my team at Cardiff City Football Stadium where they were at a conference all about our immune systems and how the work properly but also how they can go wrong and lead to diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Some days we get away from the laboratory and travel to other cities in the UK or abroad and learn from other scientists by talking to them and telling them about the science that we are doing. Here is one of my students doing just that and another of my students who has won a prize at a meeting so hard work is rewarded 😎 and you get to eat a nice dinner together with lots of scientists who are very friendly people who like to enjoy themselves and talk about their latest discoveries (most of them are!).
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would use it and work with the students to plan and carry out an experiment that they think will improve their lives.
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Education:
I went to 3 different senior schools because my Dad moved to different places in England with his job.
The last school I attended was Cheshunt Grammar School in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, where I did my ‘A’ levels but I believe it has been closed.
I went to Uni in London for 3 years and then I went to Cambridge to study for a research degree (aka a PhD). -
Qualifications:
O levels: English Language, English Literature (my worst subject), Maths, Additional Maths, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, History, Geography, French.
A levels: Biology, Physics and Chemistry (called the 3 sciences back then)
Undergraduate degree: BiochemistryPhD: Vascular Biology
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Work History:
I went to 3 different senior schools because my Dad moved to different places in England with his job. The last school I attended was Cheshunt Grammar School in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, where I did my ‘A’ levels. I went to Kings College, London for 3 years for my first degree and then I went to Cambridge to study for a research degree (aka a PhD).
At school I had no idea that I could become a scientist because I didn’t know what a scientist was! In Year 13, my chemistry teacher introduced me to biochemistry which I found fascinating and went on to study it at Uni.
After my PhD, I realized that I really enjoyed doing experiments (which is a bit like cooking). I enjoyed the challenge of having to think why an experiment did or did not give the expected results and deciding what to do next. A bit like trying to solve a puzzle, except you are not sure that there is a solution and if there is, how long it will take to find it. I got to travel to different countries, either to work for a while in someone else’s laboratory or to attend conferences and find out what other scientists are working on.
I started my career as a scientist working for a Professor of Immunology at the University of Manchester and then I became my own boss and took on the responsibility of training students and leading a team of research scientists. I moved from Manchester University to the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in London (now part of the Crick Institute) and then to Cardiff University. The reasons I changed jobs were the same as for other people, to gain promotion and/or for personal reasons to support my family.
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Current Job:
Professor of Cellular Immunity and Immunotherapy in the School of Medicine at Cardiff University.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
approachable, patient, determined
What did you want to be after you left school?
I really didn't know and I had no idea that I could become a scientist because I didn't know what a scientist was!
Were you ever in trouble at school?
I was a bit of a goody-goody but I remember getting detention for a wearing a short skirt to school
Who is your favourite singer or band?
George Michael
What's your favourite food?
Fish and chips
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To stay healthy, to be happy and to be with my family
Tell us a joke.
The other day I put my car in reverse and I thought this takes me back.
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