What was your first job after graduating?

I was a Healthcare Scientist at Public Health England. I worked in a research unit, providing services for resistance testing of HIV, analysis of HIV transmission events for public health related investigations, HIV subtyping via sequencing, Hepatitis C whole genome sequencing and Herpes Simplex virus testing.

What is your current role?

I work for the NHS as a Biomedical Scientist in Medical Microbiology. My role involves working in bacteriology and virology, diagnosing patient infections by liaising with consultant doctors and infection control nurses.

Currently, I am completing the IBMS specialist portfolio in Microbiology and I am training to specialise within this discipline. I also work on the molecular diagnosis of coronavirus infections using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and film array.

What are your greatest achievements so far? 

I was one of the winners of the Royal Society of Biology’s Top Bioscience Student award and I received the award at the Houses of Parliament.

My work on coronavirus is one of my greatest achievements. I was given the responsibility of preparing samples and tabulating results for the implementation of this assay in such a short period of time.

Outside of the course teaching, what other opportunities did you get involved in during your time at Manchester Met?

I completed a year in industry and attended various career talks as well as a tour of an NHS laboratory.

During my studies, I was driven to gain as many skills as possible so that I was confident of securing a graduate role.

My year in industry was the most valuable experience because I was able to complete the IBMS Registration Training Portfolio for the Certificate of Competence, which enabled me to quality as a Biomedical Scientist upon graduation. I also used the Careers Service at Manchester Met to look for placement opportunities and improve my CV.

What advice would you give to students who aspire to a career in Life Sciences?

Firstly, I would recommend taking a year in industry or industrial placement. The experience and skills gained during this year will benefit you in the long term.

Employers are keen to hire people with transferable skills. The skills gained through your year in industry will give you a head-start in the recruitment process.

Keep persevering throughout your degree and challenge yourself to go above and beyond. Any science degree is not easy, but with the right mindset, you can succeed.

What does diversity in Life Sciences mean to you?

For me, diversity in Life Sciences involves cultivating talent and promoting the inclusion of talented people from different backgrounds.

Everyone, regardless of their background, should be able to showcase their skillset without feeling held back. I feel that it is important to have a diverse Life Sciences industry to attract more people into the profession. Having more diversity will help to shine a light into our sector.

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