My undergraduate journey: the big picture

As I look back at my 1st year at UCL, I am thankful for choosing to study Applied Medical Sciences. I truly enjoyed learning about the human body, both in health and disease.

First year layed the foundations for a deeper understanding of the molecular basis of disease in Year 2. Among all new topics, I particularly appreciated learning about cancer biology and therapeutics in one of my optional modules; since then, my interest in cancer research has kept growing. I was thrilled to gain further insight in this field by working as a summer intern at the Francis Crick Institute, in the Cancer Metabolism Laboratory: it was a fantastic experience.

In my third year of studies I enjoyed gaining exposure to new fields, such as nanomedicine, stem cell therapies and bioinformatics, as well as further specializing in cancer biomedicine. Most importantly, I’m delighted to have undertaken my Year 3 project in Dr Erik Sahai’s Tumour Cell Biology laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, and to have worked as a summer intern in Dr Tobias Janowitz’s Host -response laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (New York, USA). Both experiences have shaped me as a scientist and have fed my interest in cancer research, opening my eyes on the importance of understanding both tumour- and host-intrinsic factors which contribute to disease progression.

My final undergraduate year was primarily dedicated to carrying my Year 4 research project. I was thrilled to join Prof Stephen Pereira and Dr Pilar Acedo’s research group, based in UCL’s Royal Free Hospital campus, to investigate novel biomarkers for pancreatic cancer early detection. I quantified circulating immunoglobulin isotypes in patient serum samples, and then used the R programming language to analyse and visualise the experimental and clinical data collected. I’m delighted to have ended my degree at UCL by contributing to this exciting project which lay the interface between the clinical world and basic research.

I am incredibly grateful to all teachers, supervisors and mentors who have been part of my undergraduate journey, and I endeavour to build upon these 4 years at UCL as I move on to the next step of my career as a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge. I look forward to joining Dr Giulia Biffi’s laboratory at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, investigating fibroblast heterogeneity in pancreatic cancer.