Decoding Life

For the final episode of this season, we spoke to Professor Anna Middleton. Anna is Head of Society and Ethics Research at the Sanger Institute and has spent her career investigating the ways in which genomics research impacts society. It was amazing to hear about the groundbreaking research that Anna has done, from her PhD research into attitudes of the deaf community to genetic testing to embedding the ethics research group into the Wellcome Genome Campus, Anna has led the way and is now dedicating her career to figuring out the best way to socialise disconnected public audiences with genomics. 

If you are looking to find out more, Anna has recommended the following TED talk: 

This week we had the opportunity to speak with Em Dixon. Em loved science growing up, but discovered that it was seeing the benefits of communicating the research that got her really excited. We had a lovely conversation covering the paths into science communication, why it is so important, and how it can be used to improve diversity and inclusion in STEM. If you want to learn about the ways in which you can use sci comms to both engage the public and improve your ability to communicate your research, this is the episode for you!

Some 

Lindsey Crosswell is Head of External Relations at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), an organisation that sits on the Wellcome Genome Campus alongside The Wellcome Sanger Institute and many others. Lindsey has had an extensive career spanning many industries, this vast experience is something she has brought to her current role. It was really interesting to talk about such a different aspect of working in science. Lindsey also reflected on how things have changed for women in the workplace over the years. We tend to focus on the present when pushing for equality and how much there still is to do, but it was lovely to think about how far we have come! If you’re interested in learning more about EMBL-EBI, how they adapted to the pandemic, and their work on public engagement and EDI then this is the episode for you!

Find out more about EMBL-EBI here: 

https://www.ebi.ac.uk/

Dr. Sarah Teichmann is a group leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in cellular genetics, and co-founded the Human Cell Atlas. We start with the science of protein structure and move into single cell genomics and the human cell atlas. We discuss the global perspective that has motivated her research from her PhD to now. We also dive into what it’s like to go from mentee to mentor and championing those that come after you. It was a really enjoyable conversation, in which we learned a huge amount of biology as well as what it takes to be an impactful and inspirational female leader.

Resources!

Dr Alena Pance has had an incredible career traversing neuroscience, cancer, and tropical parasite research. She has always had a focus on transcriptional regulation and it was incredible hearing about how she adapted to these very different fields. Alena was very honest in this interview about her two very different experiences of having children in research. It was very interesting to hear how these fed into policy changes that women on the Wellcome Genome Campus were driving and, although there is still work to be done, how much better these women made it for the parents coming after them.

Some Resources!

Dr Gosia Trynka is a group leader at the Sanger Institute and Experimental Science Director at Open Targets. Her group works on immune genomics as they study how human genetic variation impacts the immune system and predisposes people to develop autoimmune diseases. In today's episode we hear not only about this science, but also about her transition into leadership and the people she has held as role models along the way. 

Below are some resources that you may find useful after listening to our conversation with Gosia: 

Information about Gosia's group: 

https://www.sanger.ac.uk/group/trynka-faculty/

Publications surrounding GWAS studies:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20188-y

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2020.00424/full

Open targets website:

https://www.opentargets.org/

Dr Christine Boinett is a bioinformatician at the Sanger institute who started her career as a wet lab scientist studying antimicrobial resistance. She is incredibly passionate about ensuring equitable access to bioinformatics training across the globe. This passion has spilled over into the making of a podcast, along with colleagues, called Your Digital Mentor Podcast. It aims to provide access to conversations around mentoring and other aspects of research and career development, with a focus on LMICs.

Below are some resources that you may find useful after listening to our conversation with

Burcu made a brave career change recently into management, as leader of the technician commitment at Sanger. It was great to hear about how her experience as a wet lab technician has helped her in this role, tackling the issues that technicians and technical experts face throughout their careers. Plentiful experience in the malaria lab at Sanger definitely aided this, and we got to hear about one of the fascinating projects that she worked on. 

Below are some resources that you may find useful after listening to our conversation with Burcu: 

Technician Commitment

Description of the technician commitment at Sanger:

Anne joined us to talk about her incredible research career and her experience of returning to research after an 8 year break, through the Janet Thornton fellowship. She also shares incredible insights into life with twins and the balance she has found. 

Here are some resources that you might find useful after listening to our conversation with Anne:

Returning to Research

The Janet Thornton Fellowship, facilitating a return to research for people who took a career break of a year or more for family, health or caring

reasons:

Harriet started her career in software development peering over the shoulder of her flatmate. This seems to be a beginning that resonates with many women in coding. Harriet is passionate that it shouldn't fall to luck for girls to find out about coding, like it did for her. In this episode we explore life as a software developer while studying part time, and the different projects she champions to try and improve accessibility and visibility of coding for young girls.

Below are some resources that you might be interested in after listening to our chat with Harriet:

Resources to learn to code

Coding bootcamp in London

Subscribe now to Decoding Life, a brand new podcast series Launching on Monday 8th March. Kathryn and Sophie will be joined by some incredible women from a range of different careers, all contributing to the science being carried out at the Wellcome Genome Campus. From software developers to researchers, each one of these amazing women have all contributed in some way to advancing equality in science.