Our mentors
Zeta Ioannou
Biopharmaceutical Discovery Industrial Placement Student, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
Over my placement year, I had the opportunity to work in the Antibody Lead Discovery (ALD) team within the Biopharmaceutical Discovery department at GSK in Stevenage. My role within my team was to develop a new monoclonal antibody (mAb) discovery platform utilising antigen-specific B cells derived from vaccinated human donors.
My placement was immunology-based, which was a new area for me as a Pharmacology student. Despite that, my supervisors were extremely helpful in helping me adjust to any wet lab skills I was not exposed to before, including FACS, PBMC isolation, PCR, Molecular Cloning and ELISA. By the end of my placement, I developed an interest in B cell work, managed to successfully present my work at the Annual GSK Poster Symposium and now aim to pursue a PhD in the field. I also gained transferable skills that will prove useful later on in my career irrespective of the scientific basis of my placement, including public speaking, and data analysis.
Virginia Baldi
Biologics Engineering Industrial Placement Student, AstraZeneca (AZ)
Since AZ is a world-renown global pharmaceutical company and the idea of pursuing research intrigued me, I was driven to apply for an R&D placement.
The aim of the project was to develop a high-throughput assay platform for Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs). I was able to evaluate 10 luminescence and fluorescence assay kits and help in the development of a high-content imaging-based assay as well.
In the year, I also had the opportunity to bioconjugate several ADC to use them for my project, learning the necessary chemical and biochemical techniques to achieve this.
Overall, the year was extremely valuable in developing skills in research and science-related soft skills, including presentations and building strong connection with other employees.
I would strongly recommend anyone with interest or even curiosity in research to apply for a placement year in general, and AZ is definitely one to look out for!
Rachel Glynn
Researcher in Clinical Pharmacology and Safety Sciences, AstraZeneca
During the year I will be based in the Imaging department developing imagining techniques to assess drug safety. I chose this placement as I will be working in a very active area of research in a leading company, hopefully providing me with useful experience to both find out what I enjoy working in and help me gain a job at the end of university.
Irina Rousseva
Molecular Development Team Intern, MeiraGTx
During my placement, I aim to delve into the intricate world of gene expression and pathways. My primary task will involve researching and analyzing differentially expressed genes, focusing on potential gene targets. I will conduct experiments to transiently overexpress, knockdown, or knockout these genes to evaluate their impact on recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) production. Furthermore, I aspire to establish stable cell lines for rAAV manufacturing by stably overexpressing, knocking down, or knocking out the most promising gene candidates. This placement aligns with my passion for molecular biology and genetic engineering, and I am excited to contribute to advancements in rAAV production.
Adya Lonsane
Research Assistant, Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases, King's College London
My placement is in the Hamilton-Whitaker Lab under Dr. Nicola Hamilton-Whitaker and her PhD student, Grace Flower. The lab studies the role of TRPA1 receptors in demylinating disorders such as multiple sclerosis. My project involves the testing of TRPA1 agonists and antagonists in mice, followed by histological analyses of the dissected brain sections to identify regions of demylination and glial cell activity. One week into the placement, I am currently learning the immunohistochemistry protocol and familiarising myself with various lab equipment and good laboratory practice, in addition to analysing prescanned brain section images using QuPath and Prism. In the next few months, I expect to conduct a number of in vivo and ex vivo experiments to collect data relating to my project.
Jahnavi Pahuja
Business Analyst, Roche
The main aims of my placement are learning the background of the suppliers and contractors at Roche and how they play a role in development of healthcare softwares, devices, etc. I will then use this knowledge to take on clients myself and assist with the projects on a greater level. Other than that, I will be in training to learn project management softwares and skills to potentially transfer my skills towards more management based roles to have a more significant impact within this field but also potentially across a variety of fields of work.
Shiao May Cao
Placement Student, UCB
The aim of the placement is to establish the methodology of cell painting at UCB where the dats is reproduced and validated against the JUMP-CP consortium. Once this is completed, the assays are then translated and optimised for more complex cellular models which are relevant to human diseases.
Nicola Allen
Research Assistant, Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology, King's College London
My placement will be focussed on studying prospective synergism between existing and novel medications, with a special focus on targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in cystic fibrosis. Throughout the year, this will be done through a variety of both in vitro clinical samples and vivo experimental analysis. The results from these assays could potentially reduce the concentrations of medications administered to patients, and help reduce the potential for bacterial resistance!