Profile

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Alice Chernaik

    • About Me:

      I’m a scientist/PhD student living in Cambridge. When I’m not in the lab I’m usually found outside with Scouts or inside crafting!

    • My pronouns are:

      She/her

    • How I use Science in my work:

      I work in a medical/biology research lab, growing and manipulating cells to help us understand their functions.

    • My Work:

      I am a cancer biologist- I try and alter the genes of healthy cells to turn them into cancer cells so we can understand what makes a cancer cell cancerous.

    • Read more

      Currently, most of our understanding of lung cancer comes from sequencing the genomes of tumours which have been removed from patients. Although this is very useful, it’s a bit like looking at a fossil and trying to guess what the animal might have looked like as a baby! My work looks at it from the other way round- I grow healthy cells in the lab, and am able to alter their genes one by one to try and determine which genes are important. From this we can hopefully find new pathways to target to treat lung cancer!

    • My Typical Day:

      My days are very variable- some days I pipette all day, others I’m in meetings or coding. The only constant thing in my weeks are our lab meetings, where everyone in my group gets together to discuss our latest findings.

    • Read more

      Normally I get out of bed at around 8 and cycle to work. Unless I have timed experiments, I start by drinking coffee and replying to emails or reading papers. Then it’ll be some mixture of working with my cells or other experiments in the lab, coding, image analysis, writing and meetings. My evenings and weekends are very variable- sometimes I’ll just sit on the sofa watching TV, other times I’ll be out hiking or seeing friends or starting a new craft project.

    CV

    • Education:

      I went to a state school in North London up to Year 11. I then moved to a selective sixth form, where I studied Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Music A-Levels.

      I studied Natural Sciences (BA/MA) at Cambridge.

      After working for a while, I now am studying for my PhD at Cambridge University.

    • Qualifications:

      13 GCSEs (Maths, English Lit, English Language, triple science, Additional Maths, Music, Religious studies, French, History, Geography, Graphics)

      A-levels: Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Music, EPQ

      Undergraduate Degree: Natural Sciences (Biology)

      And I’m now part way through my PhD in Medicine

    • Work History:

      I worked as a technician in a medical microbiology lab just after graduating. I then moved to work as a lab technician in my current lab (a lung cancer research lab), and eventually started my PhD in the same group.

      I’ve also had plenty of part time jobs as a tutor/bar staff/duty manager/theatre technician etc along the way.

    • Current Job:

      PhD student in lung cancer biology/medicine

    • Employer:

      University of Cambridge

    • My Interview

      • What did you want to be after you left school?

        I didn't know!

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Not really, except for forgetting my possessions

        If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

        I honestly can't imagine doing anything else

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        RAYE

        What's your favourite food?

        Chips

Questions answered by Alice

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