Profile
Victoria Cox
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About Me:
I’m a PhD student studying infectious diseases who loves all things nerdy.
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Hi! I’m Victoria. I’m a PhD student studying infectious diseases. I’m from Leicester but I’ve moved down south to London where I live with my partner and a lot of houseplants (but I would really like a dog!). I’m vegan and love cooking/baking while listening to music – mostly Country & Western or Indie Rock.
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I use code to make models (computer simulations) of how a virus called dengue virus is spread. This helps me learn how different things impact how much the virus spreads, and where in the world it spreads the most. We can use what we learn to predict where the virus will spread in the future and how we can try to stop this.
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My Typical Day:
After several cups of tea in the morning I sit down at my computer to work. I read papers, write code, look at data and make graphs. I have meetings with my supervisor and other team members where they suggest cool new ideas to try if I’m stuck on something! I always talk to other scientists at work to find out what exciting things they are working on.
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I get up early (ish), try to do some yoga if I have time and then have breakfast before rushing out the door to get a train to work.
At work I have a coffee in the kitchen and catch up with my colleagues – they all study infectious diseases (including ebola, HIV, the flu and chlamydia) and they come from all over the world. It’s always an interesting chat!
I sit down at my desk to work where I write computer code to make models (computer simulations) of how a virus spreads.
Once I have got further into my PhD I will write papers, have more meetings with my supervisors and collaborators and discuss how we can use what we have learnt from our research to improve people’s health world-wide.
(The above paragraphs were written in 2019, my typical day now in 2021/2022 is very different and involves working and taking meetings from home)
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Make videos of scientists talking about their jobs and how they use science/maths/ICT to show school students, particularly girls, what exciting jobs you can do if you continue studying these subjects at A-level and beyond.
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Education:
I went to Redmoor High School and John Cleveland College in Leicestershire. I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford and I’m doing my PhD at Imperial College London.
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Qualifications:
8 GCSEs and 1 BTEC at middle school then at sixth-form I did Biology, Maths and Chemistry A levels and Anthropology and Psychology AS levels. I did biochemistry (MBiochem) at university and then a Master’s degree in Epidemiology (MRes).
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Work History:
When I was younger I had part-time jobs as a cleaner, waitress and shop-assistant. After university I worked on summer schools encouraging students from state schools to apply to top universities. More recently I worked as a research assistant studying malaria and how we can reduce its spread.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
board-game loving epidemiologist
What did you want to be after you left school?
A forensic scientist / detective
Were you ever in trouble at school?
'Fraid not - I was a proper teachers' pet and proud of it
Who is your favourite singer or band?
The Arctic Monkeys
What's your favourite food?
Fajitas
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To be better at languages, faster at running and more comfortable taking risks
Tell us a joke.
A police officer pulls over Schrodinger and asks what's in the box in the boot of his car. He says he doesn't know so the police officer opens the box and says: "it's a dead cat," and Schrodinger says: "well it's dead now!"
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