• Question: What made you want to become a scientist?

    Asked by Kimora on 8 Jun 2023. This question was also asked by SMandNM, band487dug.
    • Photo: Jen Antrobus

      Jen Antrobus answered on 8 Jun 2023:

      When I was in high school I wanted to be a doctor, so I had a general interest in science. When I was 16 I read a book called ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ by Rebecca Skloot, which sparked an interest in research rather than actually being a doctor. This made me look into different things to study at university and I found a degree in Medical Genetics that sounded so interesting! Ever since then I knew I wanted to work as a scientist.

    • Photo: Kamilla Bigos

      Kamilla Bigos answered on 9 Jun 2023:

      I was always interested in biology and medicine. I was considering a career as a doctor or nurse however, I soon realised that these roles may not be suited to me. However, I still wanted to have some role associated with medicine therefore, I started researching degrees that related to biology. I picked the degree biomedical science as it covered a wide range of subjects and I thought it would help me narrow down my area of interest. This is where my interest in cancer research was first sparked. It probably took me until I was about 20 to realise what I actually wanted to do!

    • Photo: Zahra Rattray

      Zahra Rattray answered on 9 Jun 2023:

      What inspired me to become a scientist was my sister being diagnosed with leukaemia when she was 13. I became really curious about how cancer happens in the body, and why different medicines are used to treat it at different times. Her doctors would always speak to me and they encouraged me to consider medicine or pharmacy as a field to learn more. I am now a pharmacist and have worked in drug discovery and development for over 15 years.

    • Photo: Federica Spaggiari

      Federica Spaggiari answered on 9 Jun 2023:

      When I started high school I was sure I was going to be a journalist but in the last few years before graduating I had a science teacher that was so passionate about her subject that made me change my mind. She made me discover the beauty of nature and life sciences and pushed me to pursue my passion for understanding more in depth how biological processes work. So, I decided to study Biotechnology at University to become a researcher.

    • Photo: Mungo Harvey

      Mungo Harvey answered on 12 Jun 2023:

      I’ve always been interested in how things work, especially the human body, and I always found myself asking why?
      Being a scientist is a great field of work to keep asking why about the subject you are interested in, the really exciting thing for me now is that I get to keep asking why but there isn’t always an answer so we have to research to find out ourselves. I am very motivated by the idea of finding the answers to unknown questions and as a researcher in drug discovery this can have real-word implications by furthering our understanding of complex topics and hopefully translating these findings to benefit patients in the future.
      It seems like a great combination of being able to feed my curiosity and use that enthusiasm for the benefit of real people.

    • Photo: Amy McLuskie

      Amy McLuskie answered on 13 Jun 2023:

      I always really enjoyed biology and chemistry at school and wanted to increase my knowledge in these areas. I really enjoyed cooking and learning about how different foods and diets could have an impact on someones health in a positive or negative way. This led me to studying Nutrition and Dietetics at University to become a dietitian. After working with cancer patients in the NHS for 20 years and seeing the impact this has on them and their families, this led to my next career as a clinical research fellow looking at the effect of rehabilitation in those with incurable cancer which I will be exploring further as part of my PhD.

    • Photo: Jean Ling Tan

      Jean Ling Tan answered on 14 Jun 2023:

      I was always interested in human biology when I was in school and I went to medical school because I felt Medicine as a career offered more flexibility – I could treat patients, teach, do research etc. I decided that I would enjoy doing research as part of my medical career after doing some projects of my own – I really enjoyed being able to overcome the challenges I encounter during the research process and it would add more variety to my career. Combine that with the specific project I am doing now, having a good environment to work with so I went for it!

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