Have you ever watched a television programme or read a news article about a scientific breakthrough and been left scratching your head, more confused than when you started?
This scenario is unfortunately all too common. Explaining scientific concepts and research that is highly technical in an accessible way is a difficult task. But it is an essential one.
Working for the Research team at Breast Cancer Now, part of my job is managing some of the scientific committees that give us strategic recommendations about the research we fund. Having left the laboratory a year and a half ago, I know first-hand how important funding research is.
What has been your career path so far?
I’d say my career started at the University of Manchester where I completed a degree in Biochemistry. I then went to Imperial College London to study a Masters in Cancer Biology, before moving to Cambridge where I completed my PhD at the Medical Research Council Cancer Unit in 2017.
As the UK’s largest breast cancer charity, we are dedicated to funding the most cutting edge research into this devastating disease, so that we can prevent it, stop people dying and improve the lives of those affected.
To celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we have gathered together 10 things we now know thanks to research, that we didn’t last year:
What has been your career path so far?
I studied at the University of Szeged, in Hungary, for a degree in Biology. After that I moved to Liverpool for a PhD, where I was researching how cancer cells migrate. My first job was at Queen Mary, University of London, where as a postdoctoral researcher I studied pancreatic cancer. During that time I also studied towards a Masters degree in Bioinformatics at Birkbeck, University of London in the evenings.
In Autumn 2017, a mammoth study involving more than 250,000 women discovered over 65 new genetic variations linked to risk of breast cancer – bringing the total number of these kinds of variations to around 180. It’s an incredible achievement, but these genetic variations, known as SNPs, are only part of the story.
Scientists estimate that we only know half of everything there is to know about the genetics of breast cancer risk. So how do we go about finding what’s left? And why do we need to?
Living with breast cancer can be incredibly challenging and it’s important to acknowledge the massive impact it has on psychological wellbeing and everyday life. Our goal is to ensure that by 2050 everyone diagnosed with breast cancer not only lives, but lives well. And this is why we’re funding psychosocial research.
