Profile
Melanie S.
My CV
-
Education:
I went to secondary school at a state school (but they’re called public schools in the US) in California. Then I went to undergrad in Washington, DC, where I studied biology (major subject) and chemistry (minor subject). I’m currently a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, in the Department of Chemistry and in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences.
-
Qualifications:
IB diploma: Higher Level biology, English, and maths; Standard Level physics, economics, and Mandarin Chinese. Undergrad degree: BS in Biology with a minor in Chemistry
-
Work History:
Before I became a scientist, I was many different things, including but not limited to an athlete (yes, it was a job), a coach, a baker and caterer, a science and maths tutor, an administrative assistant, a writer and editor for a non-profit, a teacher’s aide, a contributor/editor for a Broadway news website, and a chef at a café.
Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I got a position working as a research assistant, and then as the lab manager in a neurophysiology and neurodevelopment research lab at my undergrad university. This was my first experience working in a lab, and a major reason why I’m a researcher today. Eventually, after several other life journeys (see the last few jobs above), I got another research job at the National Institutes of Health in a microscopy lab, and then I applied for grad school!
-
Current Job:
I’m a PhD student. I conduct my research at the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, but my work is between two departments at the university: the Department of Chemistry (my main department) and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences.
-
About Me:
I’m a PhD student in chemistry and neuroscience, using microscopes to look at proteins inside human brains to try to find new ways to detect and treat Alzheimer’s.
-
Read more
I live in a busy but happy house with 6 other students, all in different disciplines: education, English literature, physics/chemistry, earth science, history, and mathematics (my housemates are all much cooler than I am, so please feel free to ask me about them as well!).
I love cooking and baking, especially when I get to serve and share the food with other people. I am a very mediocre but enthusiastic recreational violinist, and I enjoy (watching) theatre of all sorts. I’m also a huge film fan, and I enjoy dabbling (quite clumsily) in screenwriting from time to time.
I also love volunteering, and I’ve been fortunate to be able to volunteer with many causes and organisations I’m passionate about, mostly dealing with homelessness and poverty, domestic violence, education disparities, and mental illness. I just recently moved to the UK, so I’m still looking around for local organisations to get involved with (I’d love some recommendations in Cambridgeshire if anyone has any!), but I’ve recently started working with Jimmy’s Cambridge, a homeless organisation nearby.
-
My Work:
I’m a neuroscientist who uses powerful microscopes to watch protein molecules in the human brain to try to find new ways to detect and treat Alzheimer’s!
-
Read more
Dementia is, essentially, a syndrome (a group of related symptoms) associated with continuous decline in brain function due to permanent damage to brain cells. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia in the world, but unfortunately, there are no effective treatments or cures for it yet.
Scientists currently suspect that the major culprit behind the development and progression of Alzheimer’s might be one or more types of proteins in the brain misbehaving, which leads to permanent damage of cells in the brain. These proteins are present in everyone, and they all have useful roles in healthy brains; however, when they misbehave, they fold into shapes that they’re not supposed to, and then they start aggregating together and causing damage within cells.
I take samples of brains from people who have unfortunately passed away from Alzheimer’s, but who have been very generous to donate their brains to science. Then, I use very powerful microscopes to see and observe individual molecules of proteins, as well as aggregates of those molecules, in these people’s brains to discover things like where the aggregates are, how many there are, what they look like, and how they spread.
-
My Typical Day:
I honestly don’t have a “typical” day at the moment, and covid makes things even more unpredictable than usual. However, recently, my days have involved waking up and having breakfast, then either walking or cycling to my lab, depending on the weather forecast. Then I do some experiments. If my experiments don’t take up the whole day, I might eat my packed lunch that I previously cooked, and then stay and work in my office space, which is in a different area of the building. Some afternoons, I teach undergraduate students in organic chemistry lab. Then I go back home and have dinner. Lastly, I do some data analysis, and/or I do some reading, planning, and calculations in preparation for the following day’s work.
-
What I'd do with the prize money:
I would love the opportunity to engage students in science activities integrated with the arts.
-
My Interview
-
How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Conscientious, compassionate, trustworthy
What did you want to be after you left school?
A medic
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Only a few times for talking in class (it's always the second person who talks who gets in trouble, isn't it?)
What's your favourite food?
Anything sweet!
-