As part of my degree I worked in Germany for a big pharmaceutical company on a project that was linked to obesity. I found that the prospect of being able to change something small in the lab and having an impact on people’s health and improving the situation was something that I never really considered that I would be capable of doing.

There are areas that are research for research sake, and for me the drive had to be medical based, so respiratory disease for me it was!

I’ve had good experiences in academia, but I’m also getting a flavour for working in industry. I would like to go post doc and carry on, because I think I’ve gained a lot of knowledge that I wouldn’t like to give up. But long term, I’d like to teach or communicate the prospects that are available to young people in science...I genuinely don’t think that many people know about it.   

And it’s great fun! I know it sounds awful, but you kind of think ‘lab work, is it going to be that scintillating?’  But the environment is very dynamic and vibrant and I’ve enjoyed it a whole lot more than I thought I would. It is tough, don’t get me wrong.