Post by King Chalapati

My Master's project has most definitely been the highlight of my four years at UCL studying an MSci in Theoretical Physics. With this, I am incredibly proud to share that I have been awarded a grade of 80.50 for my Master's dissertation, titled 'Sequence Convergence in Alloreactive T cells' which looked at applying information-theoretic, statistical, and computational methods to decode the underlying structure of immune responses engaged in transplant rejection. Additionally, I received a grade of 82.50 for my final presentation of this work. Despite my degree title, my project has been based at the UCL Institute of Immunity and Transplantation within the Faculty of Life Sciences, and has been truly eye-opening. This experience has allowed me to appreciate how the quantitative methods I have refined through my physics background can be applied to the biomedical sciences to generate critical insight. A massive thank you goes to my supervisor Andreas Tiffeau-Mayer, for guiding me through this challenging but rewarding transition to a new and exciting field. An immense thanks also goes to Alexandra Sharland, Shivanjali Ratnaseelan, and Moumita Paul, with whom I have been collaborating throughout this project to produce tangible and impactful insights in transplantation immunobiology. James Henderson has also been pivotal in helping me understand how my skills can be best utilised within immunology. I'm really excited to continue developing this work over the summer, aiming for publication on multiple fronts!