Profile
Esme Bullock
My CV
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Education:
Secondary School: Brighton and Hove High School, Sixth Form: BHASVIC (Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College), University: University of Cambridge, PhD: University of Edinburgh
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Qualifications:
GCSEs: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, English Lit and Language, Drama, French, History and Geography, A levels: Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths AS and History AS, Degree: Natural Sciences BA, Biochemistry MSci
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Work History:
Florist, babysitter, data entry at a GP, undergrad lab intern and now PhD student!
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Current Job:
PhD student
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About Me:
Hi, I’m Esme and I’m in my second year of my cancer research PhD in Edinburgh. I love going for big walks around Edinburgh and hanging out with my friends – in person pre-covid and via zoom now!
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Hi, I’m Esme 🙂 I live in Edinburgh with my boyfriend – I’ve only been up here a year so I love exploring the city!
Before that I lived in Cambridge for uni and grew up in Brighton with my mum and dad, my two sisters and our lovely dog Bruno. I love going on huge walks in the countryside whenever I can and hanging out in cafes with my pals depending on various covid restrictions!
I also have a ridiculously large plant collection that’s starting to get out of hand and love baking although I’m not exactly great at it!
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Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, but what most people don’t know is that there are different types of breast cancer. I work on a type called lobular breast cancer, which doesn’t form a lump so is tricky to detect. There are no specific treatments for lobular breast cancer, so we’re trying to find things that are unique about this type of cancer that we can then target with drugs! Cancer cells rely on healthy cells around them to support and feed them, so I’m trying to see how exactly the cancer cells talk to the healthy cells, called fibroblasts, and if we can block them talking to each other to stop the cancer growing in patients.
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My Typical Day:
I get up and make myself some toast. I work at home in the morning, reading some science papers and interpreting my data then head to the lab after lunch. I start by making sure my cells are happy and feeding them. I’ll run experiments and see if feeding my cells different things changes how they’re behaving!
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I usually start working around 9ish at home. I spend the morning reading papers and analysing my data I’ve generated in the lab. I try and do some coding (which I’m not great at!) and see what interesting things I can find in my results! I might go to a few meetings on zoom too. I have lunch at home then head into the lab around half 1. Pre-covid, I would spend my whole day in the lab but I’ve swapped to working half at home and half in the lab so we can better social distance!
In the lab, I check on my cells and see if they’re growing happily, then change their media (which contains all the nutrients they need to survive). As my cells grow quite slowly, experiments can take a few days to work, so I’ll often have a few different things on the go at once! I use lots of different techniques, so my days are often very different which is fun. I sometimes use a big microscope to see fluorescent markers in my cells and see if the amount of fluorescence changes when I block something. Other days I’ll mash the cells up and see if they’re expressing different proteins or genes.
I’ll run experiments until around 5 or 6 – or later if an experiment takes a while – then head home. In the evening, I might go for a walk around the city for a bit or watch TV and bake or pre-covid, hang out with my lovely friends from work!
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I’d like to run a zoom workshop on an introduction to cancer in general and lobular breast cancer specifically for a non-scientific audience.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Happy, keen and clumsy
What did you want to be after you left school?
I had no idea!
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Not really
Who is your favourite singer or band?
I can't decide! One of these: Foals, Lizzo, Blossoms, ABBA or S Club 7
What's your favourite food?
Sainsbury's cheese twists
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To get a puppy, live on a tropical island and swim in the sea everyday (the sea in Scotland is FREEZING) and to give all my friends the worlds largest hug (covid is a weird time!)
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