Profile
Lauren Eyssen
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About Me:
I live with my husband in Didcot. I am a research scientist and enjoy running and cycling (especially when the weather is good). I love pizza and it is never too cold for me to enjoy an ice cream.
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I enjoy being outdoors running, cycling and working in the garden. Pulling weeds is one of my favourite jobs next to planting new flowers.
When I am not outside, I love to curl up on the couch with a book (the paper kind, not a kindle). In the winter months when its cold and rainy and don’t want to be outside, I enjoy making cross stitch gifts and am working on a big cross stitch by numbers (I am in my 3rd year of trying to get through it).
Working in the lab, I have to be very precise so its surprising to me that I am a rubbish baker. I enjoy cooking where you get to be less precise and more adventurous. If the meal is not so great and ketchup cannot fix it, we can always go get pizza.
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My pronouns are:
She/her
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How I use Science in my work:
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My Work:
I find mini antibodies that llamas make for us.
I make these mini antibodies in my lab.
These mini antibodies are used to look closer at how viruses speak to our cells, how they get inside our cells and how they make us sick. -
My Typical Day:
I wake up at 7am and have oats or granola for breakfast. I get to work at 8:30am where I start doing experiments in the lab or doing research at my computer. My friends and I have lunch at 1pm and get back to work. I go home at 5pm and then go for a run.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Let students build their own antibody and mini llama antibody models!!
This can be done by using paper models to show how strings of proteins can fold into different shapes like antibodies. This can be adjusted to show how small these mini llama antibodies are in comparison to normal sized antibodies.
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Education:
I went to school in South Africa were our school system is slightly different to here in the UK.
Essentially, I did 6 A levels: English, Maths, Physics, Biology, Accounting and Afrikaans (one of the 12 official languages in South Africa).
These selected A levels allowed for me to apply for medicine, a bachelor of science or even a degree in accounting. -
Qualifications:
After finishing high school when I was 18, I went to University where I studied a 3 year bachelor of science degree specialising in biochemistry and chemistry. This allowed me to apply for medicine or continue with scientific research.
I enjoyed doing research so I chose to do an honours year in chemistry.
Chemistry was not that exciting to me but I wanted to continue with research so I did a 3 year masters degree in biochemistry.
Having found that I enjoyed biochemistry and the particular research that I was doing, I continued my studies and did a 3 year PhD in biochemistry. -
Work History:
During University, I did part time work as a high school tutor and working at at Bed and Breakfast. This helped me pay for some of my university fees.
During holidays, I helped out in the research labs by isolating antibodies from the yolks of eggs (I had to crack ALOT of eggs!). This allowed me to see what life was like in a lab and gave me a chance to put into practice the theory that we were learning about in lectures. I got to speak to the other students and researchers and ask them about their work and see how they made their notes and how they solved different problems.
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Current Job:
I manage the day to day work of the nanobody discovery platform (AKA: the group that finds mini llama antibodies). I get to use my knowledge from my biochemistry degrees and experience in the lab to come up with new ideas to find these mini llama antibodies and help the members of my team do some cool science.
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Employer:
The Rosalind Franklin Institute
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
runner scientist adventurer
What did you want to be after you left school?
A doctor
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No, I was a good student
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
A teacher
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Avril Lavigne
What's your favourite food?
Pizza
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To do a pull up, be able to read sheet music and play an instrument
Tell us a joke.
Why do researchers look forward to Fridays? They can wear genes to work.
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