Profile
Sophie Griffiths
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About Me:
Hi, my name is Sophie. I come from Bournemouth but am a PhD student in Manchester looking at the immune response in cancer. Outside of my work, I love baking, reading (mostly mysteries or crime), creating fun stuff with crafts and spending time exploring in nature.
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My pronouns are:
She/her
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How I use Science in my work:
I am a PhD student researching cancer immunology- I spend a lot of time in the lab, wearing my coat, goggles and gloves. My work is completely focused around science and trying to find new science discoveries.
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My Work:
I am a student investigating how the immune response (which usually defends you from illnesses like coughs and colds) could be used to fight cancer (a potentially deadly disease where cells in the body replicate themselves uncontrollably). It combines a lot of the areas of biology which I really enjoy and applies them to an area of health research which could have a real positive impact!
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Specifically my research is looking at a type of skin cancer, called melanoma, when it has become advanced disease and spread to other organs. We have looked at when the cancer has spread to the liver (this is a site where response to therapies is particularly poor for patients, due to some unique properties of the liver) and found that a specific group of fats (also known as lipids) are increased here.
We know in other settings these lipids can change the immune response and asking the question of what these lipids could be doing in liver melanoma. Could targeting these lipids provide a new way of improving the immune response in this cancer? And, could this improve patients response to treatment?
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My Typical Day:
Every day is a little bit different (it’s one of the reasons I love what I do!). Most of the time I wake up and cycle into University for around 8am, then sit down and plan my day (or week on a Monday) which is often important for my experiments. I’ll then spend either a couple of hours in the lab or the entire day in the lab, with any time around that I’ll be reading about new research, processing results from my experiments, attending talks and talking with other scientists about mine or their results and trying to figure out what they mean. I typically leave work around 5/6pm, either heading home to decompress or meeting up with friends!
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What I'd do with the prize money:
One of the main ways which we can reduce our risk of skin cancer is suncream and protecting ourselves from the UV rays which is emitted from the sun (this UV causes DNA damage to our cells and can drive them to become mutated and cancerous). I would use the prize money to promote the importance of suncream (even in the UK and even when it is raining or cloudy). I’d love to organise a fun walk/run around Manchester with other researchers I work with, where we use some of the recycled cardboard from deliveries we get in the lab to dress up as bottles of suncream. Whilst dressed up, we would hopefully raise some awareness, do some more fundraising and it would be amazing if we could use some of the funds to give away some suncream to homeless people (who are exposed to the sun all day!).
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Education:
I went my local Primary School and then my local state Secondary School (it did the job, it wasn’t the best and I always had to try really hard but I do have some phenomenal tales to tell!). I then continued at the Sixth Form where I did A-levels in Biology, Chemistry and History (as these were the subjects I enjoyed the most) and got hit with Covid just as I was about to sit my exams. Luckily, I still got into my top choice of uni, going to Warwick to study Biomedical Sciences.
I did an integrated masters (meaning I did an extra year for a more competitive qualification) and it included an industrial placement at a pharmaceutical company where I got to be involved in clinical trials! During my final year I applied to some PhDs and I am now entering my second year of my 4-year course at Manchester University.
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Qualifications:
GCSEs: Combined Sciences, Maths, English Language, English Literature, History, French, Religious Studies, Art & Design, Information Technology (IT) and Psychology
A-levels: Biology, Chemistry, History
University Degree: MBio Biomedical Sciences with industrial placement
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Work History:
Paper round, waitress in a local cafe, pathology co-ordinator, online science tutor, babysitting, industrial placement student, PhD student!
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Current Job:
PhD Student, whilst we don’t get phenomenal wage we receive a stipend from a sponsor which acts as our wage- so eventhough I am now a student, doing what I love, but I also get paid to do it!
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Employer:
University of Manchester – but I am funded from the governments pot of money for research, as mine is health-related research, I am funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC).
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Hard-working, fun-advocating immunologist :)
What did you want to be after you left school?
Research Scientist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No (I was a bit of a goodie-two shoes)
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Probably a teacher, I love learning and science- I would love to share that too :)
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Impossible question, it depends on my mood (right now its nearly Christmas- so anything festive!)
What's your favourite food?
CHOCOLATE
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1 - To always feel calm and confident, 2 - To make a really revolutionary science discovery (a nobel prize would be pretty epic), 3 - To have more wishes (sorry, but it is true- more than three would be great)
Tell us a joke.
Why don't germs ever get invited to parties? Because they always spread things around!
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