Greater Oxford Area
Phenotype is the magazine of the Oxford University Biochemical Society. I volunteered as a copy editor for the magazine, editing submitted articles to improve their accuracy and readability.
As a member of the Graduate Student Association (GSA), I worked closely with the rest of the committee to organise a range of career-related and social events for the student body in the department. In September 2016, we staged a large careers event for the Medical Sciences Division, welcoming over 150 attendees and 11 speakers.
I worked in the lab of Professor Chris Norbury at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology. My research thesis was focused on the regulation of alternative polyadenylation of mRNA by the mammalian Cleavage Factor I complex (CFIm). I gained experience of a wide variety of experimental techniques and data types during the course of my project, with particular skills in cell culture, CRISPR gene editing, molecular biology and RNA analysis. I presented my research on a number of occassons and in a range of formats, both within the department and at national and international conferences, and published a comprehensive review article on my research topic.
Career Insight Magazine was a project started by current and previous DPhil students/postdocs at the University of Oxford to increase awareness of the career opportunities available to DPhil students. I took part in the project as a commissioning editor, contacting companies to gauge interest and playing a key role in the final proofreading and editing of articles. A very successful first issue, focusing mainly on medical writing companies, was launched and distributed across the university in July 2016.