In science, I love going to conferences and listening to other researchers present their results. It’s great getting to interact with like-minded researchers and sometimes get new ideas!
Outwith my job, the most interesting thing I did was visiting Italy last year. I went to four of the major cities and saw as much as I could! It was great to learn so much about the history and culture of each city…and of course enjoy a lot of local delicacies.
I think in relation to science the most interesting thing I’ve done is design and develop a compound which is a selective and effective inhibitor of a protein involved in cancer. I loved the research that went into that success. Outside science, I travelled to Syria in 2012 and saw the famous ancient ruins of Palmyra…which was incredible!
In science, I was the first person to ever make a molecule called all-cis-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexafluorocyclohexane, which holds a world record for being the most polar (charged) molecule that doesn’t contain any double or triple bonds.
Away from science, I once climbed a mountain called Stok Kangri in the Himalayas, which is over 6200m high. We had to ice climb to the very top – it was an amazing experience.
I took part in a volunteering experience in Kenya where I worked in an orphanage and worked in a local school teaching kids about science. But was so lovely to see was how much they were interested in science. In particular, my group had just moved one of our promising medicines for malaria into clinical trials, a disease that affects part of Kenya. The children loved hearing how although I lived very far away, my work were still interested in helping them!
Once I got an internship in J&J medical device company and was responsible for assisting doctors in cardiac surgery. My main job was operating the Carto 3 system for establishing three-dimensional heart model on computer. This job was quite difficult, but most interesting thing I have ever done!
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