Profile
Katie West
My CV
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Education:
Nelson and Colne College
Univeristy of York (BSc)University of York (PhD)
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Qualifications:
A levels in: Biology, Chemistry and Maths
BSc Biology with a year in industry -
Work History:
– Industrial placement GSK
– Lab technician -
Current Job:
PhD Student
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About Me:
I am a PhD student based in York. As part of my PhD I study the immune system. When I’m not thinking about science I enjoy cooking, pilates and I have recently discovered the joys of crafting.
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Read more
Hello! My name is Katie, my pronouns are she/her.
Here are a few random facts about me:
- I live in York with my partner, he is also a scientist and is currently involved in developing coronavirus tests.
- We are in the process of buying a house – the perks of which mean we can have a pet cat which we plan to name Wetherby (after the service station).
- I love to cook and am currently learning how to make pasta from scratch.
- I am originally from a small town in Lancashire
- The lord of the rings, catch me if you can, and pretty much anything Disney are some of my favorite films
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Read more
Our immune systems are super important for keeping us alive. We know that men’s and women’s immune systems have a lot of similarities but also some very key differences. Because of these differences, some diseases can work differently in men and women. For example, we are seeing in the current pandemic that elderly males are much more likely to suffer from severe COVID-19 and have a higher mortality rate.
My work tries to understand what happens within cells of the immune system to cause these sex-based differences.
To study this, I take male and female immune cells and grow them in big incubators under different conditions. I might measure how fast they grow, look at their structures under a microscope, or test their ability to produce disease-fighting molecules.
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My Typical Day:
Assuming the world was “normal”. I tend to spend most of my doing experiments in the lab. I get to use lots of exciting machines, some of which are worth hundreds of thousands of pounds! My time out of the lab involves analysing my experiments and making lots of graphs. I also spend a lot of time reading papers about other scientists’ work in the field and writing about my experiments.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I think it would be great to run some outreach activities in the local area about the importance of vaccines and how they work.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Bad at following directions
What did you want to be after you left school?
Possibly a nail technician. I was really into nail art and regularlly painted my friends and familys nails in my spare time with fun designs.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
What happens in school, stays in school.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Taylor swift
What's your favourite food?
Much like Garfield, my favourite food is lasagne!
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Power to heal, to be able to fly and speak every language
Tell us a joke.
I plan on living forever. So far, so good.
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