London, England, United Kingdom
Hi! My name is Carolina Bento. I am a Medical Biosciences student at Imperial College London and I aim to become a biomedical researcher, delving into the area of reproductive immunology, particularly maternal-foetal interactions in the placenta interphase. I have some experience in several lab techniques and a deep passion for research. In 2025, I designed and carried out a year-long team research project, developing skills in flow cytometry and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. That summer, I was selected from over 550 applicants as one of 10 Amgen Scholars at the Karolinska Institute. As part of the programme, I carried out an independent 8-week research project, which I will present at the Amgen Scholars European Symposium at the University of Cambridge During the summer of 2024, I interned at the Institute of Cancer Research, deepening my skills in histology, cell culture and flow cytometry. During this summer, I also shadowed in i3s, Porto, learning about stem cell development and differentiation. While in high school, I undertook a long work shadowing at Católica University of Porto, Portugal where I helped two distinct research groups and learnt about their research and techniques. Furthermore, I also developed my own research project alongside one of my classmates at the Faculty of Pharmacy at University of Porto. I am also passionate about science communication and promoting science literacy and opportunities for the science community. This led me to become the vice president of Women in STEM IC, the Biomedical representative in the Society of Research and Academia and Conference Lead in the Immunology Society. I consider myself a very motivated and hardworking person.
• Ensure the residents’ wellbeing, organise events for >300 residents, promote sense of community and flag pastoral issues; • Former Corridor Rep (2023/24) & Hall Committee Meetings Vice-Chair (2024)
- Participated in offer holder and prospect students events, including learning experiences, campus tours, Q&A sessions and Open Days - Answered student questions and provided personal insights, enhancing my communication skills - Helped promote the university and the Medical Biosciences course
- Collaborated directly with the Medical Biosciences' teaching staff to produce Academic Skills content to enhance students' academic success - Flagged the ASK module events and content
- Selected from 532 international applicants to be one of 10 Amgen Scholars 2025 - Worked in Dr. Chambers’s lab, exploring JAML as a new immunotherapeutic target. My work included characterizing the phenotype of JAML-positive tumour-infiltrating natural killer (NK) cells and investigated the role of JAML on NK cell trogocytosis - Skills developed: scRNA-seq (Python), spectral FACS, in vivo mouse experiments (handling animal records, observed animal handling, subcutaneous injections and dissection of mice)
- Set Yearly Plan and vision. Lead all committee meetings. Coordinates all events. Leads formation of professional network. Completes society administration paperwork.
I am responsible for leading all aspects of Annual Conference planning alongside other committee members as well as leading the subcommittee teams for Conference event Will be hosting the Conference alongside the society's President
- Shadowed different PhD students and Post docs from the Stem Cells in Regenerative Biology and Repair group on several activities including biomechanical analysis using a Rheometer, thawing/freezing cells, maintenance of embryonic pluripotent stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells, isolating cells from blood samples and differentiating blood cells. - Learned about topics such as embryonic development, heart development and its microenvironment, and extracellular vesicles. - Networked with PhD students, PostDocs, Group leaders and staff, learning about their work and experiences
- Joined the Radiation-Enhanced Immunotherapy group, supervised by Dr Erik Wennerberg & Ricardo Sainz - Optimised immunohistochemistry and multiplex immunofluorescent stainings on mouse tissues to study the - Spatial distribution of immune cells (F4/80 and P2X7) and their correlation with ART1 - Presented my work in the groups and supergroup’s progress meeting - Developed new skills in histology (microsectioning, staining and scanning), cell culture, DNA extraction, image analysis (QuPath and ImageJ) and flow cytometry.