What is your role and what does your work focus on?
I’m a balanced academic in Genetics and Molecular Medicine, which means that I teach human genetics (along with my talented colleagues Binoy Appukuttan and Stephen Gregory) and I have a research lab focussed on interrogating the mis-regulation of gene expression in diseases like leukaemia. In the rest of my time I’m a Teaching Program Director for the Medical Biosciences, which mainly involves supporting the work of our amazing Dean of Education Alison Jones and the dedicated and hardworking course coordinators and teaching teams in the program.
Where did you work before joining CMPH?
I was in Oxford for 7 years prior to joining the CMPH. I moved there after my PhD as a Nuffield Medical Research Fellow, but towards the end of my time I discovered teaching and for the last few years held a Lecturer position at St Catherine’s college, which is part of Oxford University, teaching medical and physiology students.
What journey brought you to this point in your career?
A long one. It took me 5 years to finish my undergraduate degree, starting with 1 year of Chemical Engineering at Adelaide Uni (I don’t know what I was thinking) and finishing with a Bachelor of Science from Flinders. I then worked for a few years as a research assistant before I decided to start my PhD in the field of inherited intellectual disability disorders. Then I went over to Oxford and now am in the CMPH. In my current role I think it’s an advantage that it took me longer than most to work out what I was doing with my career; it means that when I’m talking to students who may be still working out what they want to do, I can say that I really do understand where they’re coming from, and I can also reassure them that even if you have a few false starts with changing topics, or even courses, you can definitely still get to where you’re meant to be and end up with a job and career that you love.
What is something you love most about your work?
Getting students to think. My favourite part is seeing students transform over the course of a semester or even over their degree, by gaining not only knowledge but most importantly skills and qualities that I know will serve them well for the careers ahead of them. And I love it when students tell me they were sure they would hate genetics but now they love it and want to dedicate their life to it (happens all the time, honestly) – that makes me very happy too.
If you could tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?
That you can do hard things, and sometimes you’re even good at them. (And maybe rethink marrying your ex-husband).
If you had a superpower what would it be?
The power of explanation. (Is that a super power or maybe I just like the sound of my own voice?). Anyway, I do think that I have a talent for taking complex ideas and being able to explain them to people so it makes sense – I love helping people make sense of the world, particularly in genetics and education.
How do you like to relax or spend your spare time?
After a few years of injury I’m finally getting back into running, which makes me very happy. I’ve also recently moved close to the beach, so I really enjoy putting on a podcast, getting a coffee and going for a long beach walk when I get the chance. Of course, spending time with my daughter makes the list too – she’s only 7 so I’m legally obliged to do this, but it helps that I also really enjoy her company.