Lauren Jones, PhD candidate, College of Medicine and Public Health

Lauren Jones, PhD candidate, CMPH

What led you to a PhD? It was by accident!

I did a  Bachelor of Medical Science, and then stumbled my way into Honours with the intention of doing Medicine … but research just captivated me. There is so much to love about research: the independent and self-directed learning, the palpable sense of community with your peers, and then there’s always the fact that I’m quite literally creating knowledge.

When did you know that you wanted to do a PhD? I knew when I went to my first conference during my Honours year. I was absolutely enthralled seeing some of the world’s leading researchers explain their work to rooms full of people, each of whom was genuinely interested. It was a whole other world. And I wanted to be a part of it.

So what exactly are you researching? My topic is focused on the role of serotonin in gastrointestinal motility, and the interactions between the cells that secrete serotonin and the neural innervation of the gut.

How would you explain that to your grandma? Yes, I get that a lot! OK – I’m researching gut health and the gut-brain axis; that is, how our gut and brain communicate with each other.
More specifically, there are cells that line the gut wall which release serotonin. I am trying to find out a) how serotonin affects our gut motility (function), and b) how these cells communicate with nerves within the gut, potentially involved in the gut-brain axis. This research is an important step in understanding the role these cells have in gut function in health and disease.

Who inspires you academically? Dr Alyce Martin inspires me on a daily basis. Alyce is a postdoc researcher in my lab a few years ahead of me. She is the most hard-working, committed, postdoc I know, and yet she always has time to help everyone else.

What’s a highlight of your student life at Flinders? Travelling to Reno, Nevada to visit a collaborators lab for a month for my PhD research. It was a brilliant opportunity, and an insightful look at how science works in universities throughout the world.

How do you juggle and prioritise everything going on in your life? I’m a big fan of the work-life balance. It’s just that it is impossible to achieve! No-one ever gets it exactly right do they?!

However, I’m comfortable that it’s mainly swings and roundabouts: some weeks I’ll have to come in to the lab on the weekends, but then other weeks I know that I’ll be able to leave early and make it to footy training or actually be home on time for dinner.

Where do you spend most of your time doing your PhD? I spend almost all of my time in either may lab in the Flinders Medical Centre or the Flinders Microscopy Facility.

How do you see your PhD preparing you for your future career? I think my PhD has taught me a number of different skills. In particular, I have come a long way in my ability to critically analyse – I can now read a scientific paper and distinguish what is important from what isn’t.

I also think my PhD has built a great amount of resilience: there is an abundance of ups and downs throughout a PhD candidature, and I think this really prepares you for future career in science.

Tell me something about yourself that others may not know. You know how I mentioned that I play footy? Well, my club is Adelaide University. Please don’t judge me.

Lauren’s primary supervisor is  Professor Damien Keating, with Professor Nick Spencer and Dr Claire Jessup as co-supervisors.

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