Profile

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Rebecca Reed

My CV

  • Education:

    Kenton School, Newcastle upon Tyne.
    Coventry University (undergraduate).
    University of Sheffield (Masters degree).
    Newcastle University (PhD).

  • Qualifications:

    GCSEs in Maths, Double Science, English, History, French, IT, Business Studies, Geography, RE, and Food Technology (A*-C).
    A Levels in Chemistry (B), Biology (B), and Maths (C).
    1st Class Honours degree in BSc Human Biosciences.
    Masters degree in MSc Clinical Neurology.

  • Work History:

    – PhD Student (now)
    – Programme Delivery Officer at Alzheimer’s Society (1 year)
    – Community Engagement Administrator at Alzheimer’s Society (1 year)
    – Editorial Assistant at BioMed Central (6 months)

  • Current Job:

    PhD Student

    • About Me:

      I’m Becca, a researcher in Newcastle studying what happens to our cells as we get older and how this causes disease. I enjoy baking, trips to the beach, and love a good fantasy book with a mug of tea.

    • Read more

      I’m a final year PhD student living in Newcastle with my boyfriend and studying human ageing. I’ve moved around a bit for studies and work, and have lived in Coventry, Sheffield and London before moving back to Newcastle. Before lockdown we loved going for adventures in the Northumberland countryside and to the coast, and can’t wait to go exploring again! We really want to get a dog to take with us on our trips. I love to bake, and have just learned how to make my own fudge, as well as enjoying yoga and reading a good book.

    • Read more

      I work at the Biosciences Institute at Newcastle University studying what happens to our cells when we get older, and how this can cause diseases like arthritis, diabetes or dementia. I work in a lab most days, running experiments on cells to see if I can use different treatments to stop or reverse damage that happens as cells get older. I use a lot of complex equipment to measure different things in my cells, such as how fast cells respire, how much inflammation is happening, and how active different proteins are under different conditions. A lot of my work has involved staining cells so that the proteins I’m interested in become fluorescent, like this:

    • My Typical Day:

      I go to the lab first thing in the morning and warm up all the things I need to start an experiment (cells like to stay warm). Then I put small groups of cells into dishes ready for me to stain them bright colours and look at them under the microscope. I do experiments in my lab on most days.

    • Read more

      Depending on the day I do different experiments. Most days I am in the lab first thing in the morning to check on my cells and make sure they’re doing okay. My main lab looks like this:

      I warm up all of the chemicals I need to work with my cells, then take small samples of cells and put them into specialised dishes and wells so that I can create different environments for them. To create the cell model that I study, I use x-ray radiation to make the cells stressed and start important processes related to damage response and cell survival. To use the x-ray machine I have to go to one of our biobanks, which means lots of PPE:

      Then some of my samples are given treatments, and others get controls. I usually keep my cells for 10 days to see how they respond, then I can measure different things like cell respiration, inflammation, and markers of DNA damage or cell cycle progression. I can collect different types of samples from my cells, from protein to DNA, to just using the chemicals they are grown in:

       

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      I’d use the money to run mini research ‘competition’ days at local schools, where students would work in teams to design their own hypothetical research projects on anything they like, with the winning idea getting a prize. I’d take real scientists to offer advice and ideas to students, ideally covering a range of specialisms (e.g. a chemist, a physicist, an engineer, a biologist…).

    • My Interview

      • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

        Baking bookworm biologist

        What did you want to be after you left school?

        I wanted to be a medical doctor, but changed my mind at university

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Not really no.

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        I don't really have one favourite, but I keep coming back to Paloma Faith and Alicia Keys

        What's your favourite food?

        Pasta

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        1) To stop time like in Bernard's Watch, 2) To have all of my recipes work first time, 3) To have the library from Beauty and the Beast

Questions answered by Rebecca

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