I work for a large charitable funding organisation that supports scientific research to improve human health. My organisation wants to be able to help as many people as possible and make sure that they benefit from the research and innovations that we fund. Currently I lead our work in the “Sites and Systems” team, within the Infectious Diseases Health Challenge.  My work involves making sure that we have the right ecosystem in place to enable medical products such as vaccines and treatments, get to the people that most need them.   

However, I didn’t start out in Infectious diseases.  After my A-Levels, I decided to study Biology at university, as I was always fascinated by how our bodies worked and how we interacted with the environment and society around us.  After completing my BSc in Biology, I went on to do a PhD in Immunology, the study of the immune system.  I had become more and more interested in immunology during my degree, in how these little cells in our body that made up the immune system moved around and kept us healthy, and what happened when things didn’t quite work the way they should. 

 After my PhD, I continued to carry out research in immunology for a number of years, moving to Canada at one point too, and then back again to the UK.  Although I enjoyed research, I wanted to reach more people through my work, and decided to have a bit of a career change whilst still using my knowledge of immunology and science.  After months of searching, I found a job that would allow me to do just that!  

My first position at the Wellcome Trust was in the Science division, where I broadened my knowledge in immunology and infectious diseases.  As well as helping people get funding for the research they were doing, I also developed new projects in areas that I was interested in.  For example, I worked with other organisations that fund science to find ways for researchers in Universities to collaborate with clinicians and industry experts to support more research into autoimmune diseases. I worked with researchers to understand why people get allergies and how it impacts their lives, and how the immune system can help us understand diseases of the nervous system such as multiple sclerosis.  I also started developing and expanding my knowledge of infectious diseases, diseases such as tuberculosis, and have since worked on projects that support researchers located in Africa and Asia, expanding my knowledge in global health. 

A few years later I took up a position in the Epidemics team.  I was involved in coordinating and leading on my organisation’s activities in various outbreaks and epidemics around the world. More recently, it was heavily focused on the Covid-19 pandemic, which was both an exciting, interesting and challenging time to be working in Epidemics.  I learned so much and got to work with many organisations and researchers from around the world.   

What I love about my job is that no two days are the same. One day I could be travelling to visit researchers who we fund, and another I can be hosting a meeting in the office on one of the different projects I am working on.  I love it!  There is always new scientific information to learn, and as part of my role I have to be able to read and bring together lots of information quickly and also be able to clearly explain it to others, sometimes people who are not scientists. I love working with all kinds of different people and seeing how excited they become when I talk about the work my organisation does.  

For people interested in science, I think it’s important to find something that you are most interested in and study that.  For me it was immunology.  It’s important to be passionate and open-minded about the work you may one day be doing, because you just never know where it is going to take you.      

You can find out more about the Wellcome Trust here.