Ask an alumnus – Rosie Bithell!

As unbelievable it sometimes seems, our life does not end on the day we get our PhDs, it’s quite the opposite really- we’re starting our careers! Sometimes it’s difficult to say what your next step will be – as PhD experience gives us so much that you can be almost anything! If you’re lost or a little unsure about what you want to do after PhD, the best way to find out is to ask around and that’s exactly what we’re doing! 

This time, we’ve had a chat with Rosie Bithell, she was a PhD student with Maddy Parsons and now works as a drug discovery scientist at Cancer Research UK! Rosie shares what she enjoys most in her current role and how industry jobs differ from positions in academia. Also, the secret to winning the best snowflake prize at Randall Christmas party! Check her answers below!

Ask an alumnus – Seema Mayank!

As unbelievable it sometimes seems, our life does not end on the day we get our PhDs, it’s quite the opposite really- we’re starting our careers! Sometimes it’s difficult to say what your next step will be – as PhD experience gives us so much that you can be almost anything! If you’re lost or a little unsure about what you want to do after PhD, the best way to find out is to ask around and that’s exactly what we’re doing! 

We’ve had a catch up with Seema Mayank, who did her PhD with Jim McDonnell, and is now a biophysicist at UCB! Seema shares how she discovered that after all, she’s happiest in the lab, and if there’s one advice she would give us, is to go out there and talk about our science! More below!

Ask an Alumnus – Joe Dwyer!

As unbelievable it sometimes seems, our life does not end on the day we get our PhDs, it’s quite the opposite really- we’re starting our careers! Sometimes it’s difficult to say what your next step will be – as PhD experience gives us so much that you can be almost anything! If you’re lost or a little unsure about what you want to do after PhD, the best way to find out is to ask around and that’s exactly what we’re doing! 

We’ve talked to Joe Dwyer, he did his PhD with Elisabeth Ehler at the Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biophysics and Cardiovascular Division, where he looked at the role of FHOD1 in the heart. After his PhD, Joe worked in the pharmaceutical market research, but then he followed his heart (pun intended) and now he’s a yoga teacher!

Ask an alumnus – Jake Howden!

We’re starting a new blog post series to celebrate our amazing alumni! Our life does not end on the day we get our PhDs, it’s quite the opposite really- we’re starting our careers! Sometimes it’s difficult to say what your next step will be – as PhD experience gives us so much that you can be almost anything! If you’re lost or a little unsure about what you want to do after PhD, the best way to find out is to ask around and that’s exactly what we’re doing! 

We’ve asked Jake what he’s up to – and he’s doing amazingly well! Jake did his PhD at Randall with Maddy Parsons and he’s now left the lab bench to be a network manager for the Integrated Biological Imaging Network. Check out his answers below!

A day in the life (1st year PhD student)

Hello everybody reading this! My name is Alex Gorey and I am a first year PhD student in Dr Susan Cox’s lab at King’s College. I am currently looking at how variations in the topography of the extracellular matrix affects cell cytoskeleton dynamics. If you didn’t get it, that’s fine, neither do I, just enjoy a casual day with me at King’s 😉

By Alex Gorey

A day in the life (2nd year PhD student)

Hey guys, I’m Yonis and I’m a second/third year PhD student in Maddy Parsons’ group. Our group looks at cell adhesion, migration and cytoskeletal dynamics in epithelial tissues and cancerous cells. My project is about investigating a role of a new gene in inherited skin blistering. This is what my usual Friday looks like!

By Yonis Bare

A day in the life (2nd year PhD student)

Hi! My name is Willow and I am a second year PhD student in Maddy Parsons’ group. Our group investigates cell migration in adherent cells. Cells migrate in loads of different processes like wound healing, cancer metastasis and inflammatory responses and we want to understand the molecular mechanisms that make this happen. This was my Wednesday —

By Willow Hight-Warburton 

A day in the life (1st year PhD student)

Hi, I’m Johanna, I’m a first year PhD Student in Peter Zammit’s Group. I work on a suicide gene therapy for a rare muscle cancer, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.

By Johanna Prueller 

A day in the life (second year PhD student and RA)

Hi, I am Tapan. I am in my second year of PhD and I also work as a research assistant here at KCL. I work in Simon Hughes’s lab and we are interested in understanding molecular mechanisms underlying embryonic muscle development, growth and regeneration.