Profile
Sanjana Vimal
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About Me:
Hi, I’m Sanjana, a cancer researcher working in Manchester 👩🔬🧬. I live with my partner and dog. I love painting, embroidery and would never deny the chance to have a sweet treat 🍪
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I moved to the UK in 2022 to pursue my Master’s in Cancer Biology. My family is from India where I lived and studied before moving to the UK. I’ve really grown to like Manchester and it has started to feel more closer to home. I love going out on walks with my dog (not when it’s raining, ofc!) on the weekends. I love to cook and host parties! 🥳
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My pronouns are:
She/Her
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How I use Science in my work:
My work uses biology and chemistry to study tiny pieces of DNA that circulate in the blood. Just like students learn about cells and DNA at school, I use those same principles to understand how and why cells die, which can help improve cancer detection. -
My Work:
My work looks at DNA in the bloodstream to find clues that could help detect cancer, understand how cancer cells die and if there are any errors in the DNA that could cause cancer.
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The major sample type (what we get from patients) I work with is cell-free DNA (cfDNA) which are pieces of the DNA which have been released into the bloodstream when both healthy and cancer cells die. This can be collected from the patients via a simple blood collection called a liquid biopsy which is minimally invasive and has little to no inconvenience for the patient. This blood sample is then processed to separate the liquid component (the white part of the blood – plasma) from the cellular components, From the plasma we can then extract the cfDNA via different techniques which can be used for various downstream analyses.
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My Typical Day:
I get to work at 9:30 am after I’ve had my overnight oats to give me that energy boost since I’m not a coffee person (I know, shocking!). However, I’m currently obsessed with matcha and can’t stop wanting to try different cafes occasionally. I do lots of experiments in the labs most days but some days I have desk jobs like preparing presentations for meetings or reading research papers to keep myself updated about the research in the field before I’m ready to go home and have a snack at about 5pm.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
sweet-tooth cancer biologist
What did you want to be after you left school?
Cancer Researcher
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Not really
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Chef
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Arijit Singh
What's your favourite food?
Indian food
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Spend all day with my dog without having to do anything else; Go on holidays every 3 months and be closer to my family
Tell us a joke.
Bruh
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