I took Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths at A level before going to Leeds University to study Natural Sciences. This allowed me to continue studying multiple sciences before narrowing my focus to medicinal chemistry and chemical biology.
I did an industrial placement in my third year at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Oxfordshire in the Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics department, where I used robotics and mass spectrometry to aid drug discovery. Back at Leeds, I competed a masters project developing drugs for Malaria.
I then moved to Oxford University for a PhD position in ‘Chemistry in Cells’, and my project is focussed on the stabilisation of proteins for diseases such as cystic fibrosis.
In Post 16 I was assistant head girl on the Student Management Team, and this gave me the confidence to run for course representative for Natural Sciences as well as the accessibility representative at my Doctoral Training Centre in Oxford.