Profile

I come from the Midlands and moved up to St. Andrews for my undergraduate degree in 2015. I liked it so much I decided to stay for my PhD!

I have been playing the clarinet since I was 7 and the saxophone since I was 11. Growing up I played in competitive Wind Bands and Big Bands I was lucky enough to tour in Wales and Spain! During university I managed both the University Wind Band and Big Band as well playing for Musical Theatre shows but since staring my PhD I’ve had to slow down a little. Now I enjoy playing as part of the band in my free time (and letting someone else do the organisation)!

I also like staying active and enjoy running and ballet barre classes- I also used to kayak the white water rivers in Scotland during my undergraduate degree!

I have been lucky to travel to some amazing countries and work with people all over the world and I’m looking forward to travelling again when I can!

Upon infection with a virus, our bodies produce an immediate response called the innate immune response. Our cells produce hundreds of different defence molecules however, only a few of these will stop any particular virus. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to find an intruder in your house. It’s dark and you throw whatever you have at hand at the intruder. Some of the things you throw will hit, but most will miss. My aim is  to switch the light on and find what hits!

Specifically I research parainfluenza viruses. These are viruses that effect mainly children and cause symptoms including pneumonia and bronchiolitis (coughing and problems with breathing).

I wake up at 7.30 am and have breakfast (toast) and more importantly a coffee.

I get to work at 9 am and typically spend the first 30 minutes planning out what I need to do that day/ week- I have a colour coded schedule to organise all my experiments!

I then do my experiments in the lab and make sure the cells I am looking after are ok. Cells are like having pets, you need to make sure they have enough food/ space and give them antibiotics every so often. Whilst my experiments are running I’ll pop back to the office to analyse any results I have got and I normally have another coffee about 11 am.

I always make sure to have lunch with friends at work. This is good because it’s nice to hear what everyone else is doing and have a catch up/ relax.

Two times a week we have lunchtime seminars (these are presentations by other scientists where we hear about other research going on around the country or at our university).

In the afternoon I do more lab work and analyse more results. Occasionally I may do some writing or teaching then head home at about 5 pm.