UCL SCHOOL OF LIFE AND MEDICAL SCIENCES
UCL: London’s Global University
UCL is one of the world’s leading universities. UCL was established in 1826 to open up
education in England for the first time to students of any race, class or religion. UCL was
also the first university to welcome female students on equal terms with men. Academic
excellence and conducting research that addresses real-world problems inform our ethos
to this day.
UCL’s excellence extends across all academic disciplines; from one of Europe’s largest
and most productive hubs for biomedical science, to world renowned centres for
architecture (UCL Bartlett) and fine art (UCL Slade School). We share our resources and
engage with the local community to enrich London’s social, cultural and academic life.
Every year our partner hospitals treat over 800,000 patients, more than a third of all
hospital visits in London.
UCL’s staff and former students have included 21 Nobel prizewinners, and UCL has more
professors than any other UK university. We are a truly international community: more than
one third of our student body – around 25,000 strong – come from nearly 140 countries
and nearly one third of staff are from outside the UK. Key to our success are our
remarkable people: eminent professors and exceptional students; public engagement
professionals and lab technicians, and all the other pieces of the puzzle that make up a
leading university.
Academic Careers Office
School of Life & Medical Sciences
University College London
1st Floor Maple House
149 Tottenham Court Road
London W1T 7NF
Tel: 020 7679 6655 (Ext 46655)
Email: aco-enquiries@ucl.ac.uk
Website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/aco
Design and photography by UCL Medical Illustration Services
SLMS
Academic
Role
Models
page 2
SLMS Academic Role Models
FOREWORD
Everyone needs role models. They help guide our personal
development, to make important decisions that affect the outcome
of our lives, and find satisfaction and fulfillment in our professional
careers. I am therefore delighted to introduce this publication that
highlights many of our outstanding academic role models in the
UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences. The role models were
selected from nominations made by their peers, with the single
requirement that the nominator believed the nominee was an
academic role model. It is therefore particularly pleasing that the
nominees come from many different disciplines and are at very
different stages of their academic careers. This rightly reflects the
strength of the School in its diversity and its wide range of
outstanding academics who mentor, guide and inspire people not
only at UCL but throughout the world. This is a short publication
and so can only provide insight into a small number of the many academic role models
throughout UCL. But in doing so, I hope it inspires all of us to recognise the personal and
professional qualities in our peers that makes UCL such an outstanding institution.
Sir John Tooke PMedsci FRCP
Vice Provost (Health)
SLMS Academic Role Models
ACADEMIC ROLE MODELS
4
Anita Berlin, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
8
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Brain Sciences
10
Ann Blandford, Professor of Human Computer Interaction, Faculty of Engineering Sciences
& Faculty of Brain Sciences
12
Petra Boynton, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medical Sciences,
16
Alan Burns, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
18
Francesca Cacucci, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Brain Sciences
20
David Colquhoun, Research Professor of Pharmacology, Faculty of Life Sciences
24
Jane Dacre, Professor of Medical Education, Faculty of Medical Sciences
26
Julie Daniels, Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Therapy, Faculty of Brain Sciences
28
Anna David, Reader in Obstetrics and Maternal Fetal Medicine, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
30
Uta Frith, Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development, Faculty of Brain Sciences
34
David Gems, Professor of Biogerontology, Faculty of Life Sciences
36
Deborah Gill, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medical Sciences
38
Allan Hackshaw, Professor of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Medical Sciences
42
Graham Hart, Professor of Sexual Health and HIV Research, Dean of the Faculty of Population Health
Sciences, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
44
Angela Hassiotis, Reader in Psychiatry of Learning (Intellectual) Disabilities, Faculty of Brain Sciences
48
Aroon Hingorani, Director of UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science, Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
50
David Isenberg, Professor of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medical Sciences
52
Anne Johnson, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
54
Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics, Faculty of Life Sciences
SLMS Academic Role Models
56
Peng Tee Khaw, Professor of Glaucoma and Ocular Healing, Faculty of Brain Sciences
58
Josef Kittler, Reader in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Sciences
60
Dimitri Kullmann, Professor of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences
64
Catherine Law, Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
66
Nilli Lavie, Professor of Psychology and Brain Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences
68
Marilena Loizidou, Senior Lecturer, Division of Surgery & Interventional Sciences,
Faculty of Medical Sciences
70
Neil Marlow, Professor of Neonatal Medicine, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
72
Eamon McCrory, Reader, Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, Faculty of Brain Sciences
76
Neil Millar, Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, Faculty of Life Sciences
78
Hugh Montgomery, Chair of Intensive Care Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences
82
Antonella Riccio, Reader in Molecular Neurobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences
84
Mike Rowson, Senior Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
86
Christiana Ruhrberg, Professor of Neuronal and Vascular Development, Faculty of Brain Sciences
88
Sophie Scott, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Brain Sciences
90
Alexander Seifalian, Professor of Nanotechnology & Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences
92
Gordon Stewart, Professor of Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences
94
Sarah Tabrizi, Professor of Clinical Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences
98
Essi Viding, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, Faculty of Brain Sciences
100
Mary Wickenden, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
102
Katherine Woolf, Lecturer in Medical Education, Faculty of Medical Sciences
105
Contact details
SLMS Academic Role Models
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ANITA
BERLIN
SENIOR LECTURER
Institute of Epidemiology & Health
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Dr Anita Berlin is an extremely inspiring and
enjoyable person to work with. Anita’s
enthusiasm for good teaching is infectious, and
I come away from every meeting with her with
new ideas and renewed motivation to read and
learn more, and improve my teaching skills.
She has a deep understanding of educational
theory and concepts, and can explain them
clearly, in ways that are relevant and tailored to
her audience. More importantly, although her
knowledge of theory is excellent, she’s really
good at applying it to real situations. She
recently led a re-organization of the Medical
School’s Final Year curriculum and
assessment, which has led to a great
improvement in students’ learning, and their
preparedness to practice as doctors. Anita is
prepared to invest time in relationships with the
hospital consultants and GPs who are
implementing the curriculum, using their
feedback to adjust the programme. Anita is
also committed to academic scholarship, and
has been encouraging and supportive of more
junior staff as we have presented the Final Year
curriculum work at an international conference,
and are now preparing it for publication. To do
all of this alongside a clinical job is hard work,
and shows real dedication to improving
students’ experience and skills.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I was absolutely delighted to be nominated. First,
because I am very aware of the way role modelling
may influence both individuals around us and the
culture of the teams and institutions in which we work.
Secondly, because the nomination says all the good
things that I would want to read about myself. I feel it is
particularly important to have “scholarly educators” as
role models - teachers and course leaders who seek
out and apply educational research and learning
theory to their subject area. This is especially
important in a research intensive institution struggling
to find ways to support and reward educational
endeavour and improve the student experience. I am
proud of what my teams have achieved - it’s lovely for
my individual approach to be recognised in this way although I must stress very little happens alone everything depends on good collaboration.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I would say my career is characterised by trying to
juggle multiple roles and identities in different
locations. I trained as a doctor in Newcastle,
considered a very progressive medical school and
started my first academic post before finishing my GP
training as a result of a chance meeting in a corridor.
This was at a time of great optimism for the future of
primary care. I was fortunate to be immediately part of
local, national and international projects promoting the
‘exceptional potential’ of general practice. It initially
seemed possible to be a practitioner, researcher,
educator and policy maker and I saw this
heterogeneity as the source of creativity. But, after
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“
”
I feel it is particularly important to have “scholarly
educators” as role models - teachers and course
leaders who seek out and apply educational research
and learning theory to their subject area.
having two sons, I realised I had to specialise and, for
me, the exciting opportunities were in undergraduate
education. My academic work has centred on
curriculum design and enhancement, starting with
international programmes for GPs then moving into
curriculum change, educational scholarship and
leadership in undergraduate medical education and
recently moving across into interdisciplinary and
international work. I am currently leading on an
innovative module focusing on the social determinants
of health and incorporating global health, as well as
enhancing patient and public engagement in the
medical school. I am undertaking a number of
research projects applying contemporary theoretical
perspectives to enhance our understanding of
institutional leadership, career structures for
educators, and public engagement.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The highs generally come from seeing students hearing through their formal and informal feedback that
they have not only enjoyed their learning but feel wellprepared to help their patients and to deal with the
stresses of professional life. I’m particularly proud that
the recent work that we undertook reforming the final
year of the medical course has been so well received
by staff and students, and commended by the GMC. It
is also very nice to see papers and presentations
accepted - especially when they involve junior
colleagues and students. In addition working across
different disciplines has been one of the great aspects
of working at UCL. My clinical practice is still a joy.
Lows come in three forms. First, is realising that you
made a decision on behalf of your staff or students
that didn’t lead to the most elegant outcome. I now
realise this is inevitable and have learned to identify
potential problems and build in safeguards so that we
can try to adapt quickly to problems. Secondly,
working relationships - losing senior staff and mentors
at critical times and finding others particularly
concerned with their own ambitions. Academic life can
be very competitive and women in medicine have the
added challenge of balancing family life with intensive
work commitments and multiple career requirements.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
With the benefit of hindsight I think the advice is simple:
• Try as hard as you can to find a topic you like sooner or later you’ll be sick of it - you don’t want
that moment to come too soon
• Feel comfortable and supported by your
supervisor - if you don’t feel that relationship
building quickly - change.
• There’s never a right time (just like there’s never a
perfect time to have children) but start your
doctorate as soon as possible. For academics in
the professions (such as medicine) this is
particularly challenging as you have to make
choices between specialty training, your academic
career and family life.
• If you are interested in teaching and learning - do
another doctorate! Consider one of the excellent
professional programmes such as the EdD at the
Institute of Education.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 6
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I tried very hard to focus on making a difference for
students and patients. I completed my junior doctor
posts in the coal towns of the Northeast during the
miners’ strike, and both my parents are refugees from
(different) despotic regimes so I see being able to
‘make a difference’ as a privilege. I think universities,
particularly somewhere like UCL, can contribute to
civil society and social justice as well as being places
of great creativity and blue skies invention. At a very
practical level I like to set targets that make tasks feel
achievable for me, my students and colleagues.
I try to keep faith in myself, my values and my own
abilities - and when this faith inevitably flags I have a
couple of mentors and a very smart, wise husband
who try to pick me up and turn me around.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Someone once said that most of our professional roles
are like rubber balls; if you are basically good at what
you do and committed, you can drop something for a
while and it will bounce back. But there are two
aspects of life which are like crystal balls that need to
be treated with care: our families and our health. I’ve
always struggled to be there for my children and not to
be “the last mummy at the school gate” … I am
pleased to say my boys seem to be turning out just
fine - in fact the oldest has just got a place at UCL to
study architecture! And just as my children are
becoming independent both my parents need
constant support so there’s little time for health and
relaxation - I try to cycle, and in the summer go open
water swimming with family in Spain. On a winter’s
evening you will find me in front of a good film.
SLMS Academic Role Models
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SLMS Academic Role Models
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SARAH-JAYNE
BLAKEMORE
PROFESSOR OF COGNITIVE
NEUROSCIENCE
Institute of Cognitive
Neuroscience
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is a Professor of
Cognitive Neuroscience at the UCL Institute of
Cognitive Neuroscience. She works on how the
adolescent brain develops, and in particular
how this affects the social interactions of
adolescents. She has helped to set up the UCL
Centre for Developmental Cognitive
Neuroscience to foster such work. Her
research is relevant to educational policy, and
she has contributed to Royal Society reports
on this issue. She is a committed populariser of
science, and has presented at the Cheltenham
Festival, Cafe Scientifique, Royal Society
Summer Exhibition, World Economic Forum
and many schools, and has given a TED talk.
Putting all of these aspects of her work
together she has co-authored a book, The
Learning Brain, which won the Society for
Educational Studies Book Prize 2006.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I didn’t know I had been nominated, so I was very
surprised when I found out - and very happy.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
During my degree in Experimental Psychology I
became interested in how the brain controls behaviour,
so I applied to the PhD programme in neuroscience at
UCL. My PhD at UCL was supervised by Chris Frith
and Daniel Wolpert and focused on why people with
schizophrenia experience symptoms like hearing
voices and delusions. I continued this research during
a post-doc in France, and then returned to UCL where
I had the good fortune to work with one of science’s
ultimate role models, Uta Frith. At that time, I became
interested in why schizophrenia usually has its onset at
the end of adolescence. Since 2004 I have had a
series of Royal Society Fellowships and my research
has focused on development of the human brain
in adolescence.
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“
”
Working with people who are passionate about
the same research questions is highly motivating.
I feel enormously lucky to do a job that is
inherently interesting.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The highs include: the opportunity to work with brilliant
people – both mentors and supervisors as well as
students and post-docs; being awarded a succession
of independent research fellowships; and being
based in central London with its fantastic opportunities
to meet and collaborate with researchers from all over
the world who visit this vibrant and multi-cultural city.
It’s also a terrific privilege to be invited to give talks in
universities and at conferences around the world and
to meet so many interesting people in different
countries. There are also lows of course, like when
months or even years of work generate a nonsignificant result and you have to give up on what
seemed like a good idea, or when a paper or grant is
rejected. A thick skin is useful at these times!
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Working with people who are passionate about the
same research questions is highly motivating. I feel
enormously lucky to do a job that is inherently
interesting. I was recently explaining my group’s
research to a class of school children and teachers
and they had so many great questions, the session ran
way over the scheduled time. That is motivating!
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Mostly being entertainer, chauffeur and chef to two
small boys.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
I would advise people at the end of their PhDs to talk
to many people at different stages of their career and
get as much advice as possible. Think carefully at this
point – if you don’t love research, it might not be the
career for you. On the other hand, if you do love
research then be ambitious and persevere with
applications for post-docs. Many female PhD students
have asked me if it’s difficult to have a career in
research and a family. It’s very possible, although it is
quite a juggling act; but I guess that’s no different in
any other line of work.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 10
ANN
BLANDFORD
PROFESSOR OF HUMAN
COMPUTER INTERACTION
Department of Computer
Science & Division of Psychology
and Language Sciences
Faculty of Engineering Sciences
& Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Ann meets all of her students individually and
regularly, and provides excellent support. Like
many successful academics she works far too
hard, which is both a weakness and strength.
This job is also her hobby (besides climbing)
and her enthusiasm is of great benefit to
students: it is infectious and has great practical
benefit when you get feedback on written work
the next day or over a weekend. It makes you
feel valued, listened too and keeps you
moving. She is very driven, critical and has
high academic standards that she encourages
in others. Ann is a great role model and has
had the biggest impact on my career that one
person could have. If it wasn’t for her I could
be earning lots of money in industry but
instead I have found myself doing what I enjoy.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Of course, I was delighted to be nominated – who
wouldn’t be? I’m really proud of my team, and of our
culture of supporting and empowering each other as
well as doing great research. I’m also very grateful to
my husband, who has been constantly supportive and
made my career possible.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
My career has been unconventional and “sawtoothed”, with elective demotions as well as
promotions and discipline-hopping. After a first
degree in Maths, I worked in industry as a trainee
engineer, then as a programmer and computer system
manager. I stepped down to being a student again to
complete a PhD in Artificial Intelligence and Education
while my children were pre-school. I fell in love with
research during my PhD, and was lucky to talk my way
into a post-doc position (that was initially just for four
months, but got extended repeatedly for a further four
years) at the Applied Psychology Unit in Cambridge.
Then to a lectureship in Computer Science at
Middlesex University, where I got promoted every
couple of years to being Professor and Director of
Research in the department. Then I took another step
down to a Senior Lectureship at UCL in UCLIC. My
initial appointment was held jointly across Psychology
and Computer Science. I worked my way up again, to
being a Professor in Computer Science and Head of
Research Department in PALS, building a group that I
am really proud of. And I’ve taken another step down
recently, as Yvonne Rogers has taken over as Director
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 11
“
”
I try not to dwell on the set-backs and the bad
days. The good days and the successes are
highly motivating. Life is rarely dull, so it’s not hard
to keep motivated.
of UCLIC. I am now working with others on building
UCL’s research identity in e-Health, and particularly
the Human–Computer Interaction aspects of that.
There is so much potential.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
I feel so privileged: I do a job that I love, with people
that I really enjoy working with (both colleagues and
students). If I have to pick high points, they would
definitely include my two inaugural lectures (at
Middlesex and UCL), where I could share the
excitement of research with my family and
administrative colleagues as well as academic peers. I
usually love teaching, though there are exceptions to
that! Last year, we celebrated 10 years of UCLIC,
which really brought home to me how far we’d come in
that time, and how many people had graduated
successfully from the MSc and are now thriving. But
you do need to be thick-skinned as an academic, to
take the rejections of papers and proposals too.
Having our EPSRC Programme Grant proposal
rejected when it had received uniformly outstanding
reviews was hard, but then it was funded three months
later, so we’ve been able to do the work after all.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Firstly, celebrate: doing a PhD is challenging, and
finishing it is a great achievement. But in terms of the
next steps, I think it’s tough: people have to make hard
choices, and accept compromise. To some extent, you
can make your own luck (by networking, finding out
what opportunities are coming up, even creating your
own opportunities), but it usually demands hard work
and a preparedness to be flexible.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I try not to dwell on the set-backs and the bad
days. The good days and the successes are highly
motivating. Life is rarely dull, so it’s not hard to
keep motivated.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Firstly, one of the great strengths of UCL is its
encouragement of interdisciplinary working, so my
work is not confined to SLMS, but extends to other
parts of the university, particularly Computer Science.
While my children were younger, my out-of-work life
revolved around them. For example, I spent the
evening after my PhD viva with the children at a
fashion show put on by the parent-teacher association
at their school. With my older daughter, I discovered
rock climbing, and since the girls left home that has
been my main extracurricular activity. I spend many
summer weekends away climbing: my favourite places
are sea cliffs such as Cornwall and Pembroke.
Through the winter, I make do with indoor climbing
walls; the scenery may not be so good, but it’s
sociable and keeps the body flexible and strong. And
climbing is a sport that demands total focus (if you
don’t focus, you fall off!), so it’s a great way to set
aside the stresses of work. My husband and I have
just become grandparents, which is another new and
exciting phase of life that will, no doubt, introduce a
new repertoire of activities outside work.
SLMS Academic Role Models
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PETRA
BOYNTON
SENIOR LECTURER
UCL Medical School
Faculty of Medical Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Petra is an excellent role model for young
academics - particularly women. Since
obtaining her PhD Petra has conducted
research in sex and relationships health, and
educational research. She has 85 research
publications in high profile peer reviewed
journals; delivered 53 invited talks at national
and international conferences plus given a
further 58 conference presentations, workshops
and posters since 1995.
Her work uses skills developed through her
teaching and research to enable others. Aside
from teaching undergraduate, postgraduate
and CPD students at UCL and elsewhere to
understand, apply, evaluate and disseminate
health research, Petra has written a popular
book ‘The Research Companion’ aimed at
making social and health research easier,
more ethical, effective and safe. Research
methods are not usually considered
particularly exciting by students, but Petra’s
engaging approach to teaching is consistently
described as ‘fun’ and ‘useful’.
SLMS Academic Role Models
She has raised £450,000 from the
Commonwealth Scholarship Commission to
fund 60 students from Commonwealth
countries to study on the MSc in International
Primary Health Care. Her teaching experience
and model of pastoral care on this programme
has informed teaching on other courses
internationally via links with DFID and
academic research groups worldwide.
Petra focuses on applying research outcomes
to the wider community. A study of young
people’s attitudes, from non-traditional/low
income backgrounds, towards medical school
(with Trisha Greenhalgh and Kieran Seyan) led
to the Dick Whittington Project (now Target
Medicine), a mentoring programme to
introduce gifted young people to the realities of
applying for a degree in medicine and support
them through this process. She manages to do
all this whilst bringing up a young family.
page 13
“
The highs of my career have been getting my
PhD. After being written off at school that was
some confidence boost! I also was delighted to
be long listed for the Orwell Prize for Political
Writing in 2011
”
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I was very pleased to be nominated. I’m a Critical
Social Psychologist and it’s always good to recognise
the work we do and skills we bring to medical
education and research.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I was told to leave school at 16, as I was not
considered academic. In fact one teacher told me I
was ‘thick’. I took O and A Levels at Basingstoke
Technical College. With the support of tutors there and
the encouragement of my parents I applied to Sussex
University where I did a BA in Social Psychology.
Followed by a PhD in Applied Human Psychology at
Aston University, Birmingham. During my PhD studies I
grew frustrated with the focus on studying
undergraduate students and wanted to work within
communities. I completed postdoctoral research on
women involved in street prostitution that transformed
how I viewed the process of undertaking social
research. I therefore, went to work for an R&D
Department within a Health Authority where I had a lot
of hands on experience of health care research and
using diverse methodologies. I applied this by working
for Imperial and the Open University teaching
methodologies to students. I joined UCL in 1998 when
I worked on an epidemiological study of sexual
functioning with Mike King and Irwin Nazareth.
Followed by teaching on the MSc in International
Primary Health Care with Trisha Greenhalgh and
colleagues where I have been since 2002. Since 2002
I’ve applied my academic research on sex and
relationships through creating media advice in print,
online and in broadcast media in the UK and
Internationally. I also served as a consultant for the
Department of Health’s media sexual health activities
(2002-2008). I was delighted when the late Otto Wolff
(GOSH/ICH) encouraged me to see media advice
giving (and the role of Agony Aunt) as a recognised
part of health care provision and to campaign for
better advice giving services worldwide. I see my
academic and media careers as intertwined. I could
not do one without the other.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The highs of my career have been getting my PhD.
After being written off at school that was some
confidence boost! I also was delighted to be long
listed for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2011
for my blogging on sex/relationship science and media
criticism. I felt it gave legitimacy to my blogging that
had perhaps previously not been taken seriously as an
academic endeavour.
The lows have been contracting Hepatitis A in my
twenties. I had complications from the illness that
led to other liver and gall bladder problems. It meant I
had to postpone my PhD studies and left me
struggling emotionally and financially. I had to fight for
proper health care for over four years because I did
not fit a standard medical diagnosis. The lack of
recognition of the media work I have done and at
times obstructive behaviours from some academic
colleagues about this work have also been upsetting.
Fortunately we are now in a far better position to
recognise and celebrate public and media
engagement. I’m really glad to see media health
advice work being recognised and celebrated.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 14
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
I tell all my PhD students and those finishing a PhD
that usually it is worth it. It’s normal to feel exhausted
and discouraged at times, and to consider giving up.
For some people it may be there are different and
more appropriate career paths to take, so it is worth
being open minded. But if you are finishing a PhD look
towards creating networks, making use of career
development courses, going to conferences, and
publishing your findings (before your viva if possible).
Thinking about where you want your PhD to take you
and your next career steps can help motivate you
finish and shape how you write up your research. It’s
worth remembering also this is probably the only time
you’ll have this much space to deeply investigate
something that interests you over several years – so it’s
worth relishing that opportunity!
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I’m lucky to have friends and family who support me.
Working with the media, blogging and tweeting means
I get a lot of interaction and feedback that encourages
me to keep going. Also working in International Health
Care both academically and through media work
means I hear about many inspirational healthcare
workers and many injustices and inequalities that
communities face, particularly those who are LGBT,
sex workers, young people and those who lack
internet access or struggle with literacy. Hearing their
stories reminds me there is a lot of work still needing
to be done.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I write a weekly advice column for the Telegraph
(Wonder Women) and blog when I can. I have two
young sons so I spend most of my time looking after
them. Every day is a new adventure with dancing,
pirates, dinosaurs and space being very popular. Plus
endless questions I have no idea how to answer.
Outside of the fun stuff I have the less glamorous job
of housework that never seems to go away. I escape
by going swimming, walking on the Sussex Downs and
catching up with friends; preferably in a pub.
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page 16
ALAN
BURNS
SENIOR LECTURER
Institute of Child Health
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Alan has mentored me at several stages of my
career and he has consistently proved an
inspiration to me, encouraging me to reach my
aspirations. He is a highly logical and organised
researcher and encourages clear thought. Yet
he is very ‘normal’ and approachable and
funny! He is also inspirational in his
management of a busy work life in conjunction
with a large family.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am pleasantly surprised and somewhat flattered to
be nominated. I didn’t think that anyone paid attention
to what I do!
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
At first sight, my career has followed a fairly typical
and conventional path: BSc degree, PhD, then two
spells as a post-doc leading to a faculty appointment.
My introduction to research was via a laboratory
project carried out during my undergraduate degree. I
really enjoyed studying the developing brain of a
tapeworm larva and my supervisor must have been
suitably impressed with my efforts to offer me a PhD
position in his lab to continue that work. My degree
and PhD were carried out in Northern Ireland during
some fairly dark days of the “troubles” in the late
1980s and early 1990s, so when I was offered a postdoc position in Reno, Nevada, I jumped at the
opportunity to leave Northern Ireland behind and
commence a career in scientific research (not to
SLMS Academic Role Models
mention living 30 minutes away from the beautiful ski
resorts and golf courses around Lake Tahoe).
In Reno I was lucky enough to be given a novel project
that produced some important papers and helped
establish my career. I moved on from there to Paris to
train at the institute of Nicole Le Douarin, a renowned
developmental biologist, and this led to me being
offered a faculty position at the University of Ulster. I
accepted this job with the intention of settling back in
Northern Ireland, but it was not long afterwards that I
was offered a senior lectureship at UCL Institute of
Child Health. I jumped at this opportunity to lead my
own group and work closely with colleagues in Great
Ormond Street Hospital where my research could take
a more “translational” approach and help to better
understand the cellular mechanisms underlying a
number of birth defects.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
I really enjoyed my time as a post doc in the USA. I
was part of a team led by Professor Kent Sanders that
taught me a lot about the importance of having a good
work-life balance. We all worked hard and productively
and yet were able to switch off and enjoy social time.
The work that I did there has been highly cited and I
still regard that as being a springboard to much that I
have subsequently achieved, so it was definitely a
“high” to have the privilege of working there. Another
high was when I organised an international conference
in my area of research. Although this took a great deal
of time and effort, and encompassed many diverse
activities (fundraising, finding suitable hotel
accommodation, programme timetabling, etc.) the
page 17
“
It’s great to see people that you have trained go
on to get a job in a good lab, or start their own
group, or have success in another line of work.
For me, trying to ensure that people in my group
achieve their potential is a great motivator.
meeting was attended by virtually all of the experts in
the field from all over the world, making the meeting a
success. On the flip side, like many scientists
nowadays, obtaining funding is a challenge, and having
grant applications rejected is hard not to take personally
sometimes. Ten years or so ago, the chance of having
a grant funded was well over 20%, but this has fallen to
as low as 10% with some funding bodies now. This
means that much time is spent writing about what you
would like to do, rather than doing the things (exciting
lab work) that attracted you to science in the first place.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
There is much talk in the media nowadays about the
“dumbing down” of education and the lowering of
standards. However, in my experience I have
encountered many highly intelligent PhD students who
have produced exceptional, ground breaking work.
Although not all such students want to go on to lead a
research group, there are many other exciting
possibilities out there. Undertaking one or two post-doc
positions is a great opportunity to establish your career:
generally at this stage you are free to concentrate on lab
work and can make significant advances in a relatively
short period of time; this is also a great time to
experience living and working in different countries, with
the US still being a favoured destination for research
scientists, and Europe and Australasia not far behind.
For those wishing to leave “bench” science behind,
there are opportunities in areas such as scientific
writing, administration, etc. In fact it is worth taking
advantage of the many “transferable skills” courses
offered by UCL that would be beneficial for a career in
academia or the private sector.
”
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
When people outside science ask me what I do, I often
explain that running a research group is a bit like
running a small business. There is a lot of freedom,
intellectually, and no one is really telling you what to do
on a day-to-day basis, so basically you are your own
boss. In addition, there are many and varied activities
that you have to become good at: managing a group
of people; planning research on a short, medium and
long term basis; managing budgets; teaching and
giving lectures; and the “shop front” activities of
publishing your research and giving presentations at
conferences and at other institutions. For a small
business, the more effort you put in to it, the more you
get out of it, and I believe that is the same for a
research scientist. In terms of making all of this
successful, the people you work with are the key. It’s
great to see people that you have trained go on to get
a job in a good lab, or start their own group, or have
success in another line of work. For me, trying to
ensure that people in my group achieve their potential
is a great motivator.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I am a very keen golfer, but having a young family and
a wife working full time in medicine makes it a rare
occurrence when I can disappear for half a day to
play a round of golf. Although much of my time
outside work is taken up with driving my children to
various sporting activities such as judo and rugby, I try
to relax by looking after a large garden, DIY, and some
photography (not unrelated to taking all those pictures
through a microscope!).
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page 18
FRANCESCA
CACUCCI
SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW
Division of Psychology &
Language Sciences
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Francesca has an absolute passion for her
research and that of others around her, is a
first class experimenter with a recent (joint) first
author paper in Science (Wills et al. 2010); and
she is extremely supportive and encouraging
for younger post docs and PhD students in her
own and her colleagues’ groups. Francesca
demonstrates important collegiate qualities as
an enthusiastic member of such groups as the
steering committee for the Centre for
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, as
well as offering support (and her time) to help
in the development of the infrastructure for the
Sainsbury Wellcome Centre. She has
contributed enthusiastically to teaching
throughout her time as a Research Associate
and in her current role as a RC Career
Development Fellow and is totally reliable and
well received by the students. Outside of UCL,
Francesca is mother to a four year old
daughter and when she had more time she
volunteered as an English teacher to a
Camden charity supporting recent asylum
immigrants to the area.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Totally astonished, flattered, and a little bit bemused
(since I moved to Britain I have come to love the irony
and self-deprecatory style which I think is a true mark
of the genius of being British).
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I studied for my first degree in Naples. I graduated in
Biological Sciences, a five year course which also
included a substantial (a two-year long) stint in a
molecular biology lab. It was at this time that I
developed my love for developmental biology (through
reading one of the early books of Lewis Wolpert,
which my boyfriend at the time obtained through
somewhat illicit means – I still owe Lewis Wolpert not
only my love for developmental biology and
neuroscience, but also some royalties).
By the end of my degree, I was awarded a 4-year
Wellcome Trust PhD studentship at UCL, a brilliant
PhD programme which is still running. I decided to do
my PhD with John O’Keefe, as I was literally
dumbstruck when I ‘heard’ my first place cell (cell that
codes for the location of the organism).
I have since remained at UCL (in contravention to all
rules of academic career development) and I now
have my own nascent group, and we study, among
other things, how these fascinating place cells are
constructed during the development of the animal.
page 19
“
Just keep alive that flicker of curiosity that made
you start your PhD. I don’t want to sound too
pompous, but I think this is it, try to keep your
integrity and shy away from the more ‘institutional’
aspects of science, as these might be deadly.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
My personality is such that I always go through highs
and lows. The highs are generally brief moments of
utter bliss, when in the lab, I delude myself that I have
grasped something I didn’t know before. The lows are
generally linked to the fact that science is such a
predatory occupation, and it can feel rather draining at
times, as one would like to also get some time to do,
think and feel something science-unrelated (if such a
thing were to exist).
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Just keep alive that flicker of curiosity that made you
start your PhD. I don’t want to sound too pompous, but
I think this is it, try to keep your integrity and shy away
from the more ‘institutional’ aspects of science, as
these might be deadly. Your path might be different
from that of the huge majority of people, you might lie
well beyond the 99th percentile, but this is why
science is great, because very often the unpredictable
is exactly what you were looking for. Remain playful
and do it for fun (if there is no fun, something has
gone seriously wrong).
”
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I hate to admit it (given that the course I convene
bears the title of ‘Neural Basis of Learning and
Motivation), but the source of my motivation is totally
elusive to me.
Perhaps it is because I don’t particularly need to make
an effort to keep motivated. As I mentioned before, the
lows in my career are due to the fact that science is
such a consuming enterprise. And it is a tough master,
in that it always confronts you with the
meaninglessness of it all.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I am mainly trying to be a decent mother for my 4 year
old daughter. She has the misfortune of both of her
parents being scientists, and I put all my efforts in
trying to compensate for this compromising start in
life. Balancing parenthood and a scientific career is
quite challenging, but totally fulfilling, as both are true,
all-encompassing, passions. Given these two full-time
roles, I had to put (momentarily) on the back burner,
my other lifelong vocation, my desire to help those who
feel they are less happy than they might be.
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page 20
DAVID
COLQUHOUN
RESEARCH PROFESSOR OF
PHARMACOLOGY
Division of Biosciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
David Colquhoun has made major
contributions to our understanding of how ion
channels (proteins which allow charged ions to
pass across cell membranes) function to
mediate electrical signaling in nerve and
muscle cells. This work elegantly combines
experimental and theoretical aspects, and
resulted in David being made a Fellow of the
Royal Society. David played a key role in
resisting the notion that UCL should merge with
Imperial College in 2002, by running a website
opposed to the merger. He thus facilitated the
continued existence of an independent UCL.
He is also well-known for his principled
opposition to therapies that are not based on
scientific evidence, and for his blog which
comments on this issue as well as on university
bureaucracy and politics.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Astounded!
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
My first job (in 1950s) was as an apprentice
pharmacist in Timothy Whites & Taylors (Homeopathic
Chemists) in Grange Road, Birkenhead. You can’t get
a more humble start than that. But it got me interested
in drugs, and thanks to my schoolmaster father, I got to
the University of Leeds.
One of the courses involved some statistics, and that
interested me. I think I made a semi-conscious
decision that it would be sensible to be good at
something that others were bad at, so I learned quite a
lot of statistics and mathematics. I recall buying a
Methuen’s Monograph on Determinants and Matrices
in my final year, and, with the help of an Argentinian
PhD student in physical chemistry (not my lecturers) I
began to make sense of it.
I purposely went into my final viva with it sticking out of
my pocket. The examiner was Walter Perry, then
professor of Pharmacology in Edinburgh (he later did
a great job setting up the Open University). That’s how
I came to be a PhD student in Edinburgh.
Although Perry was one of my supervisors, the only
time I saw him was when he came into my lab
between committee meetings for a cigarette. But he
did make me an honorary lecturer so I could join the
Staff Club, where I made many friends, including a
young physics lecturer called Peter Higgs. The staff
club exists no longer, having been destroyed in one of
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page 21
“
My first job (in 1950s) was as an apprentice
pharmacist in Timothy Whites & Taylors
(Homeopathic Chemists) in Grange Road,
Birkenhead. You can’t get a more humble start
than that.
”
those acts of short-sighted academic vandalism that
vice-chancellors seem so fond of.
The great university expansion in the 1960s made it
easy to get a job. The most famous pharmacology
department in the world was at UCL so I asked
someone to introduce me to its then head, Heinz
Schild, and asked him if he had a job. While interned
during WW2 he had written a paper on the statistics of
biological assay and wanted someone to teach it to
students, so I got a job (in 1964), and have been at
UCL ever since apart from 9 years. Between 1964 and
1970 I published little, but learned a great deal by
writing a textbook on statistics.
That sort of statistics is now thought too difficult for
undergraduates, and the famous department that
attracted me was itself destroyed in another act of
academic vandalism, in 2007.
I have spent my life doing things that I enjoy. Such
success as I’ve had, I attribute to a liking for spending
time with people cleverer than I am, and wasting time
drinking coffee. I found a very clever statistician, Alan
Hawkes, in the Housman Room in the late 1960s, and
we began to collaborate on the theory of single ion
channel analysis in a series of papers that still isn’t
quite finished. He did the hard mathematics, but I
knew enough about it to write it up in a more or less
comprehensible form and to write computer programs
to evaluate the algebra. When I got stuck, I would
often ask Hyman Kestelman (co-author of the famous
mathematics textbook, Massie & Kestelman) to
explain, usually in what was then the Joint Staff
Common Room at lunch time (it is now the Haldane
room, the common room having been confiscated by
unenlightened management). Before leaving for the
USA in 1970, in league with the then Professor of
French, Brian Woledge, I eventually got through a
motion that allowed women into the Housman room.
I’d also talk as much as I could to Bernard Katz, whom
I asked to submit the first theoretical paper by Hawkes
and me to the Royal Society. His comments on the first
draft led to the published version making a prediction
about single ion channel behaviour before channels
could be observed.
The next step was sheer luck. As this was going on,
two young Germans, Neher & Sakmann, succeeded in
observing the tiny currents that flow through single ion
channel molecules, so it became possible to test the
theory. In a series of visits to Göttingen, Sakmann and
I did experiments late into the night. Neher & Sakmann
got a well-deserved Nobel Prize in 1991, and I expect
I benefitted from a bit of reflected glory.
The work that I have done is nothing if not basic. It
doesn’t fit in with the current vogue for translational
research (most of which will fail), although I would
regard it as laying the basis for rational drug design.
My only regret is that rational drug design has proved
to be so difficult that it won’t be achieved in my lifetime
(please don’t believe the hype).
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The highs have been the chance to work with brilliant
people and write a handful of papers that have a
chance of having a lasting influence. Because I have
been able to take my time on those projects there
haven’t been too many lows, apart from observing the
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 22
continuous loss of academic integrity caused by the
intense pressure to publish or perish, and the
progressive decline in collegiality in universities
caused by that pressure combined with the rise in
power of managerialism. Luckily the advent of blogs
has allowed me to do a little about that.
I’m saddened by the fact that the innumeracy of
biologists that I noticed as an undergraduate has not
really improved at all (though I don’t believe it is
worse). Most biologists still have difficulty with even
the simplest equations. Worse still, they don’t know
enough maths to communicate their problem
to a mathematician, so only too often one sees
collaborations with mathematicians produce
useless results.
The only real failure I’ve had was when, in a fit of
vanity, I applied for the chair of Pharmacology in
Oxford, in 1984, and failed to get it. But in retrospect
that was really a success too. I would have hated the
flummery of Oxford, and as Head of Department (an
increasingly unattractive job) I would have spent my
time on pushing paper, not ion channels. In retrospect,
it was a lucky escape. UCL is my sort of place (most
of the time).
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
My career course would be almost impossible now. In
fact it is very likely that I would have been fired before I
got going in the present climate. There were quite long
periods when I didn’t publish much. I was learning the
tools of my trade, both mathematical and
experimental. Now there is no time to do that. You are
under pressure to publish a paper a week (for the
glory of your PI and your university) and probably
rarely find time to leave the lab to talk to inspiring
people. If you are given any courses they’ll probably
be in some inane HR nonsense, not in algebra. That is
one reason we started our summer workshop, though
bizarrely that has now been dropped by the Graduate
School in favour of Advanced PowerPoint.
The plight of recent PhDs is dire. Too many are taken
on (for the benefit of the university, not of the student)
and there aren’t many academic jobs. If you want to
stay in academia, all I can suggest is that you get good
at doing something that other people can’t do, and to
resist the pressure to publish dozens of trivial papers.
Try to maintain some academic integrity despite the
many pressures to do the opposite that are imposed on
SLMS Academic Role Models
you by your elders (but not always betters). That may
or may not be enough to get you the job that you want,
but at least you’ll be able to hold your head high.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Work-life balance is much talked about by HR, though
they are one of the reasons why it is now almost
impossible. In the past it wasn’t a great problem. I’m
fascinated by the problems that I’m trying to puzzle
out. I’ve had periods of a year or two when things
haven’t gone well and I’ve felt as though I was a
failure, but luckily they haven’t lasted too long, and
they occurred in a time before some idiotic
performance manager would harass you for
ailing to publish for a year or two. The climate of
“performance management” is doing a lot to kill
innovation and creativity.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I’ve had various phases. For a while I carried on
boxing (which had been compulsory at school). When
I was first at UCL in 1964 I bought a 21 foot sloop (and
as a consequence could barely afford to eat), and in
1970 (at Yale) I learned to fly. I had a lot of fun sailing
right up to the early 1980s, when I found I could not
afford a son as well as a boat. That was when running
came into fashion and that could be done for the price
of a pair of shoes. I did marathons and half marathons
for fun (London in 1988 was great fun). And that
was supplanted by walking country trails in the
early 2000s.
There is never a clear division between work and play,
especially with algebra. You can continue to struggle
with a derivation on a boat, or even get a new angle on
it while running. That, of course, is why the UCL
Transparency Review is such total nonsense.
The main cause of stress has never been work for me.
Stress comes mainly from the imposition of dim-witted
managerialism and incompetent HR policies. And that
has become progressively worse. I doubt that if I were
a young academic now I’d have the time to spend the
weekend sailing. I’m not sure whether the blogging
that has taken up something like half my time since my
nominal retirement in 2004 counts as work or not. It
certainly depends on things that I have learned in my
academic work. And it’s fun to have effects in the real
world after a life spent on problems that many would
regard as esoteric.
page 23
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 24
JANE
DACRE
PROFESSOR OF MEDICAL
EDUCATION
UCL Medical School
Faculty of Medical Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Professor Jane Dacre has shown endless
commitment to the medical school through
teaching and curriculum development whilst
holding a number of extremely influential
positions within her profession. She has
recognised expertise in the scholarship of
assessment, including developing a number of
undergraduate and postgraduate assessment
systems in the UK. Her current role as Director
of UCL Medical School highlights her ambition
and dedication to medical education. As one of
the small number of female clinical professors
across the country, Professor Jane Dacre has
been an inspiration to female trainees in their
pursuit of academic medicine and leadership
within the profession. She has written many
articles on Women in Medicine, balancing a
career with a family, and is Chair of a steering
group, so named, at the RCP. She is an
inspiration because she shows how to do all
these things whilst remaining grounded in the
reality of day-to-day clinical medicine, whilst
teaching students and juniors. Professor Dacre
is always approachable and recognised for her
ability to lead and inspire others to evolve their
careers. We know many people who would
aspire to follow in her footsteps.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am delighted and flattered to be nominated as an
academic role model. My career trajectory has been
largely unplanned and influenced by getting involved
in projects and issues which I find interesting. Happily,
others have thought these areas were important too!
Perhaps my most important lesson was realising that if
I focused on where my interest and skills lay, I would
enjoy the job more and do it better. That is why I chose
medical education, and I haven’t looked back.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I qualified as a doctor, and followed a traditional
physicianly path, taking time out for a traditional
research degree. Whilst doing my research, I became
increasingly interested in education, and in clinical
skills. My motivation to improve the teaching of clinical
skills was based on my own poor experiences of
being taught, and the realisation that it could be done
so much better. This led to the setting up of the first
Clinical Skills Centre in the UK, at St Bartholomews’
Medical College. I also realised that the best way of
improving a student’s skills and knowledge was
through assessing them well, so I focused on
assessment. Generating data from assessments
made for interesting research findings about training
and trainees.
page 25
“
Perhaps my most important lesson was realising
that if I focused on where my interest and skills
lay, I would enjoy the job more and do it better.
That is why I chose medical education, and I
haven’t looked back.
”
During this time, I had 3 children, and realised that the
career hurdles for women with children were
significant, especially if following an academic
pathway. Realising for the second time that there must
be a better way, I began working on the issues around
women and medicine, and was asked by Dame Carol
Black to chair the research steering group “Women
and Medicine”. This received a lot of publicity, and has
been gratifyingly influential.
I am now working as Director of the UCL Medical
School, and continue to work in assessment as
Medical Director of the MRCP examination. I am
coming to the end of a term as a GMC Council
member, and Chair of their Education and Training
Committee.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Working as a clinical academic is extremely
rewarding, but is not an easy option. Resilience pays
off though, so keep on working at it, and you will make
progress.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Good feedback from students is hard to beat, followed
by recognition from colleagues.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I go to France, and I spend time with my family.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
Working at the Royal College of Physicians and the
GMC, being able to raise the profile of medical
education at UCL and externally.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 26
JULIE
DANIELS
PROFESSOR OF
REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
AND CELLULAR THERAPY
Institute of Ophthalmology
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Julie is one of the most humble principal
investigators I have ever met. In spite of being
one of the most recognised names in the field,
she is very down to earth and modest. Always
one to listen and understand another’s point of
view, she has no prejudice based on position.
It is also worth mentioning here that in spite of
her modesty, she does not back down even
against fierce opposition. Never one to be
rude, she will graciously explain her point of
view and make sure it is understood. She is a
great judge of character too and has ensured
that everyone in our lab has a great
relationship with each other. She is the first
person we run to in excitement and frustration.
In times of trouble, she either has a solution or
a kind word to offer. She knows that you may
not always have the result you expect (in
science) and encourages us to strive further
and make use of what has been obtained.
When I was confused about whether I should
pursue a PhD, I approached her and she was
quick to realise that that’s not where my heart
lies and that I only wanted to do a PhD as it
was a natural progression. She patiently
explained to me that I didn’t have to pursue
something just because everyone else did and
that there were a million ways to succeed.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I was very surprised and absolutely delighted to find
out that I had been nominated. When my nominations
were passed on to me to read, I realised that my team
thinks almost as much of me as I do of them. I feel
very humbled and honoured to have such great
people, past and present, to work with. My success is
a direct reflection of their achievements.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
My career started by taking a BSc in Microbiology and
then a part-time PhD in Tissue Engineering at the
University of Leeds. During my PhD I also worked as a
research assistant at the Yorkshire Regional Tissue
Bank where I was responsible for culturing skin cells
for the treatment of patients with major burns. This was
quite harrowing at times but only served to strengthen
my desire to undertake research that would help
patients. I joined the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
as a new post-doc in 1996 and have remained there
ever since! The opportunities and challenges I have
been presented with have certainly shaped the person
I am today. My underlying goal of developing new
therapies for patients has been a constant throughout
my career. Having this focal point has really helped me
to deal with the roller coaster that is research.
page 27
“
”
I was shown a letter of thanks from a patient who
joined our research programme. The letter detailed
a life changing experience. This was definitely a
significant high point for me and my team
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The highs of my career include securing my first
academic position and proving to the doubters that I
could build a successful research team and establish
a regulatory compliant cell therapy manufacturing
facility! This is what enabled my team to deliver
cultured stem cells to patients with blinding ocular
surface failure, which has helped some of them to
regain vision. I was shown a letter of thanks from a
patient who joined our research programme. The letter
detailed a life changing experience. This was definitely
a significant high point for me and my team. Of course
obtaining grant funding and getting our work published
is always a great achievement too. The lows of my
career include the usual grant application rejections
and crazy reviewer’s comments on manuscripts, but
that’s all par for the course as an academic.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Try to find something that makes you unique and excel
at it. For me this was my cell therapy expertise. If you
are fortunate enough to have a choice in these
financially difficult times, pursue a path that really
motivates you. Don’t settle for second best. Listen to
the doubters, as there is usually something to learn
from them but don’t let them put you off. Find a good
mentor; we all need a bit of help along the way. Be
organized with your time and keep your CV up to date.
It’s easy to forget all the things that you have done and
achieved. Science is extremely competitive but I firmly
believe that it is possible to succeed while considering
others and without being ruthless.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I try to remember that my actions also have
consequences for others. If I don’t work hard then
others will suffer. If I don’t bring in funding then my
team will disappear. In our work we meet patients who
desperately need our help. This is the most motivating
aspect for me.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
When I’m not working in SLMS, I can usually be found
in a field with a bunch of dogs and their owners. I’m a
part-time dog training instructor and member of the
Association of Pet Dog Trainers, something I had to
study and be assessed for. I also do a variety of
activities with my own dogs including agility. I have a
keen interest in canine behaviour modification,
especially for the type of aggression that tends to get
dogs into trouble, using no force training methods. For
evening entertainment I enjoy live rock music. For me it
is important to have an absorbing interest that makes
me stop thinking about stem cells for a short while! I
find this helps to clear my mind and therefore I hope
makes me a better researcher.
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page 28
ANNA
DAVID
READER IN OBSTETRICS AND
MATERNAL FETAL MEDICINE
Institute for Women's Health
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
As a mentor Anna is generous with her time,
her ideas and her support. I have lost count of
the times she has calmly pointed me in the
right direction, and when this has not been
enough a gentle nudge has always followed!
Whenever I have needed advice or
encouragement Anna has always made time to
listen and gone out of her way to provide
practical help. She has always given relevant
and constructive advice, even when this means
telling me what I least want to hear, in a kind
and encouraging manner.
Anna is consistently supportive to Specialist
Registrars (SpRs), visiting fellows, medical
students looking for projects, and those
interested in finding out about careers in
academic Obstetrics and Gynaecology. As a
trainee at the very beginning of my career
as a researcher, my aim to one day be a senior
clinical academic running my own projects,
seems in many ways to be an abstract, almost
unreachable goal. Observing Anna balancing
clinical and academic commitments, whilst
still being available to provide help and
support to students and trainees, is both highly
motivating and a constant reminder of what I
am working towards.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I was so delighted to be nominated, but also felt rather
humbled. I constantly feel during my juggling of
clinical, academic and family commitments, that it may
all come tumbling down. However one of the things
that keeps my perspective is chatting to those who are
more junior, inspiring in them the interest and
excitement that research brings to me. In some ways
mentoring is fundamental to being an academic. I had
some superb mentors during my academic
development, and I feel privileged to be nominated.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
My research interest was caught during my pre-clinical
medical school course when I did an intercalating
BSc. I was drawn to a career in Obstetrics and
Gynaecology (O&G) during clinical training and after
that I was on the lookout for a funded PhD post, but
did not find one until after I had taken my membership
exam (i.e. I had done 5 years O&G specialty training).
In some ways this was good because I knew then that
I was fascinated by fetal medicine. Towards the end of
my PhD in this field, my supervisor suggested I could
continue as a clinical lecturer at UCL, so I stayed on
doing 4 more years as a Senior Registrar combined
with subspecialty training in Maternal Fetal Medicine. I
then was awarded an NIHR Senior Clinical Lectureship
in 2008 and became a consultant.
page 29
“
I love the fact that I am making a difference not
just to the patient that I am seeing in the clinic
today, but to the patient that I will see in 2 or 5
years’ time. In one of my clinics my patients
already reap the benefit of research that we did 2
years ago
”
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
One early high in my academic career is when I
successfully extracted DNA from blood while doing a
medical student research project. It seems trivial, but
to see that glob of DNA precipitate out from a patient’s
blood sample, and then to go on and perform PCR for
HLA typing in the early 1990s was tremendously
exciting. Another career high was being awarded an
NIHR Senior Clinical Lectureship which meant I could
stay on at UCL as a clinical academic. More recently I
have just been awarded a large EU translational
medicine grant which is based on work that I began
as a pilot study in 2005. It seems amazing to think that
it all began with a £10,000 pot of soft money from my
supervisor and an idea to use gene therapy to treat a
pregnancy condition. Finally a consistent high point for
me has been developing a research team working
together for a common purpose.
The lows…lots of them….but being a “glass half-full”
person I don’t tend to dwell on them too long, and
something better always seems to come along
instead. Manuscript and grant rejections are always a
blow to your confidence, but usually the manuscript
gets accepted somewhere else, and the grant gets
reworked and funded eventually.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
everybody that I have approached has been keen to
work together. I would also recommend that people
look around to see whose job they would like and then
investigate how they might get there.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I love the fact that I am making a difference not just to
the patient that I am seeing in the clinic today, but to
the patient that I will see in 2 or 5 years’ time. In one of
my clinics my patients already reap the benefit of
research that we did 2 years ago and that is a huge
motivation to do more. I also believe that as a clinical
academic you have great flexibility. I have a young
family (aged 8 and 11) and I manage my time so that I
can drop off and pick up from school, get to Harvest
Festival, Sport’s Day etc. This does mean that I quite
often do work in the evenings and at weekends, but I
get to see my children more than many of my full-time
clinical colleagues. My husband is a tremendous
support and we are a team. I could not do it without
his help.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
As a family we go for long cycle rides at the weekends,
and for holidays I try to find destinations where I will
be unable to pick up a Wi-Fi or mobile phone signal.
Sail boats, North Devon and Cornwall beaches are
excellent for this as is the Alps!
I would say that they should take advantage of any
opportunities that arise, and don’t underestimate what
a small pot of money can achieve. One of the best
reasons for working at UCL is collaboration and
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page 30
UTA
FRITH
EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Division of Psychology &
Language Sciences
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Professor Uta Frith has been an inspirational
role model not only to a generation of young
cognitive neuroscientists, but also to patients
and parents of patients with autism and
dyslexia, and to women pursuing academic
careers in science and engineering at UCL.
Her pioneering research on the biological
basis of autism and dyslexia has inspired not
only the many cognitive neuroscientists whom
Professor Frith mentored directly, but also an
entire generation of scientists around the world
now working in a research field she helped to
create. Importantly, her research helped to shift
public discourse in the twentieth century away
from a damaging tendency to attribute autism
to bad parenting and dyslexia to laziness.
Therefore Professor Frith is a scientific heroine
for parents of children with autism and
dyslexia, who are no longer blamed for
causing the biologically based disorders with
which they struggle, and who are better able to
obtain medical, educational and social support.
SLMS Academic Role Models
Finally, she has been an inspirational role
model to women in science at UCL and
elsewhere in the UK. In 2005, she established
the “science & shopping” support network,
which meets several times a year and currently
involves more than 100 female scientists, many
of them at early stages in their careers. The
aim of this group is to promote the careers of
women in science, by sharing ideas,
information and useful knowledge about
common problems, and by emphasizing the
importance of maintaining focus on “things
that are inspiring and fun”. Through this group,
Professor Frith has helped and inspired women
scientists in all parts of UCL and has recently
founded the network UCL Women, which
provides an informal opportunity for monthly
meetings over lunch. In acknowledgment for
her work Professor Uta Frith was made a fellow
of The British Academy, The Academy of
Medical Sciences and The Royal Society. More
recently, Professor Frith became an honorary
Dame Commander of the British Empire, yet
another recognition of her outstanding
scientific career.
page 31
“
I believe perhaps the greatest motivator for people
in the biomedical sciences is that they can keep
the broader vision of how their work, no matter
whether in a small or in a big way, will benefit
others, their health and their quality of life.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Having just had a wonderful week with Ada Lovelace
Day which celebrates role models for women in
science I am thrilled that I am thought of as a role
model myself. I have just led a Wikipedia edit-a-thon at
the Royal Society where we made or edited entries for
women in science in Wikipedia. It was an exhilarating
experience to see this work being done and names,
such as UCL’s Eleanor Maguire, now appear in
Wikipedia. But I have my eye on other great women at
UCL for whom I look forward to creating entries.
I am just a tiny bit intimidated that I am in such
illustrious company. Take for example Kathleen
Lonsdale, after whom a building at UCL is named. I
choose a paper about her as my favourite from the
Royal Society Journal Notes and Records. The title of
this paper is interesting: ‘Where are the Intelligent
Mothers to come from? – Marriage and Family in the
Scientific Career of Dame Kathleen Lonsdale FRS
(1903–71)’ At some point, an eminent engineer told
Kathleen Londsdale that he believed that brilliant men
often inherited their gifts from intelligent mothers, but
he also told her that women should not be scientists
because they would inevitably leave the laboratory if
they married. To this she gave the reply contained in
the title.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I was born and educated in provincial Germany. As a
child I had dreams of wanting to be a writer, a
gardener, an archaeologist, and so on, but no idea that
I would study psychology. I didn’t even know what
”
psychology was. My school was an old fashioned
humanist gymnasium, which taught me a broad range
of subjects. I strengthened my curiosity in languages,
art and history, but it also gave me an inkling that
science, especially biology, was a riveting thing to do.
At university in Saarbrücken, I was determined to
sample lectures in all sorts of subjects and somehow I
tumbled from art history into experimental psychology.
What I liked about it was the fact that you could find
out really interesting answers with straightforward tests
just from asking the right question. Unbeknown to me,
settling on psychology had a decisive effect on my
future life. The psychology course I took was based on
American textbooks and therefore I had to learn
English, a language that my school had not offered.
This is how I first came to London. I remember that
one day I walked along Gower Street and past
University College, and I knew that this was where I
would like to be.
However, attracted by the fame of Professor H.J.
Eysenck, I went to the Institute of Psychiatry. I completed
a course in Abnormal Psychology, which is what Clinical
Psychology was called then, and by incredibly good
fortune I was taken on as a PhD student by Neil
O’Connor and Beate Hermelin. Luckily, the German
Academic Exchange Service gave me a grant to do this.
My thesis was on autism, a topic, which I am obsessed
by to this day. However, since my undergraduate
dissertation in Saarbrücken I was also interested in
reading and spelling difficulties. After my PhD I
immersed myself in the topic of spelling, intrigued by the
question why it is so difficult to learn for some people,
and so easy for others. This led me to the topic of
dyslexia and this too has been a lifelong fascination.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 32
By another stroke of luck I was offered a place at an
MRC Unit affiliated to UCL. So I did get to UCL after
all, and I have stayed there ever since 1968! I am very
grateful to the MRC for funding throughout my career.
This gave me the freedom to pursue questions such
as: what goes wrong in the mind/brain of a young
child to lead in one case to autism, in another to
dyslexia. The aim was to narrow in on invisible
mechanisms in the mind/brain that we normally take
for granted. Amazingly, they can be made visible,
because they are vulnerable to genetic faults and then
result in atypical brain development and atypical
cognitive development. For example, in dyslexia there
is a hidden fault, which only shows up when an
alphabetic code has to be learned and then used to
make reading and spelling automatic. We investigated
this mechanism in collaborative work and I would like
to credit particularly the first of my brilliant PhD
students, Maggie Snowling, and one of the last,
Eamon McCrory, who is now Senior Lecturer at UCL.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
One high was the collaborative work that led to two
major theories to explain the core symptoms of autism,
nicknamed Theory of Mind and Weak Central
Coherence. Here I would like to acknowledge my
amazing PhD students Simon Baron Cohen,
Francesca Happé, Amitta Shah and Sarah White. But
of course there were other people, too many to
mention here, who have been part of my group and
who have contributed the major part to the research
projects I was fortunate to lead.
Another undeniable high for me has been the ability to
use the amazing techniques of brain imaging, first
with PET and then MRI scanners. I was very excited by
these possibilities and the idea that they allow us to
look inside the thinking and feeling brain. It was
obvious that they would help us to pinpoint the subtle
cognitive problems in dyslexia and autism and I was
privileged to have the collaborators to teach me how to
do this. I must acknowledge my husband, Chris Frith,
as my most important collaborator.
What were the lows? I am sure there were lots of
those, but I can’t remember.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
If you have reached the end of your PhD you have
shown that you can be the world’s expert in some
distinct area of scholarship or science. At this point,
nobody in the world knows more than you about the
topic you worked on and finally wrote up. Of course,
science moves fast and unless you keep working at it,
you will soon lose this advantage. So keep at it and
use the momentum that your work created to decide
where to go from there. Ideally, at this point you should
try and get a different perspective and find a lab
abroad where you can work for a while.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
If you are feeling jaded sometimes, and I don’t blame
you, then you need to switch to some other topic. I
always had the possibility to switch from autism to
dyslexia and back again when things felt a bit stuck. It
is not only refreshing to go abroad and to experience
a different culture, but it makes you get a different
view of life and you can test your strength in
different waters.
I believe perhaps the greatest motivator for people in
the biomedical sciences is that they can keep the
broader vision of how their work, no matter whether in
a small or in a big way, will benefit others, their health
and their quality of life.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Since I am retired and can do what I like, I find that
actually I like best to continue thinking about the
questions that have always intrigued me. But if I am
not writing or chatting with young researchers, then I
am playing with my little grandchildren, who are nearly
three years old. I relax with Twitter, which is more fun
than reading papers and often more informative. I love
to meet up with young women in science and I try to
support and promote them by being generally
available and acting as a sounding board. I also love
to go to museums and recently I particularly enjoyed
exploring UCL’s wonderful collections.
page 33
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page 34
DAVID
GEMS
PROFESSOR OF
BIOGERONTOLOGY
Division of Biosciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
David Gems is dedicated to doing excellent,
honest science while caring for his people and
reaching out to society. He is strongly involved
in teaching, mentoring and welcoming
students. I can testify that David, through his
lectures, attracts a considerable amount of
students, who ask to do internships in his lab.
He gives interviews and comments on issues
related to his expertise to explain to a broader
audience what is really happening. He believes
science is for all and should be an exciting
adventure. He does his best to provide his
team with the best working environment, free
from stress and administrative hassle. He is a
creative and very open-minded scientist, who
is not scared to reconsider accepted
paradigms when scientific evidence starts to
challenge them, and is therefore a motor of
change in the ageing field.
Recent work from his lab will certainly
challenge a lot of many old ideas about ageing
and change ageing research. One of a series
of important publications was published last
year in Nature, challenging the established role
of sirtuins in longevity and of the so-called
anti-ageing drug resveratrol. This publication
was a battle for scientific integrity, which he
eventually won over pressures and threats.
More surprising and exciting papers are in
SLMS Academic Role Models
preparation and I expect that the next decade
will see a drastic change in the way we see
ageing, in big part thanks to David’s team
work. I believe David Gems will have an
important impact beyond his field and he will do
so while staying human, honest and creative;
values that modern science tends to sacrifice
because of increased competition for funding.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I would like to thank my anonymous nominator for their
kind remarks, and for so diplomatically leaving out my
many faults. They might have added, among other
things, that I am distractible, rather disorganized, selfabsorbed, very unsociable, bad at statistics and
sometimes slow on the uptake.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I got a degree in Biochemistry from Sussex University, a
PhD in Genetics from Glasgow University, and was then
a postdoc at Imperial College and then a research
fellow at the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA. After
that I was a Royal Society University Research Fellow
here at UCL, then a lecturer, a reader and, recently, a
professor, all here at UCL. I am now at the Institute of
Healthy Ageing, and the Research Department of
Genetics, Evolution and Environment (formerly the
Department of Biology).
As I teenager I wanted to be a cartoonist and studied to
go to art school, but then disillusionment with many
things - coinciding with the punk period - and also some
odd philosophical ideas, led me to decide to study
page 35
“
If you are considering continuing with research, it
is good to pick as a topic something that you feel
really passionate about, something that really
matters. That passion is the most dependable
thing to keep you working in the years ahead and
in it lays the very meaning of your work.
genetics. In the early-mid 1980s I became disaffected
with science and, as I saw it, its incapacity to serve the
public good within capitalist society, and left science for
Central America (including Nicaragua where the
Sandinista-led revolution had just taken place). In the late
1980s, at a loose end I began a PhD in Glasgow and,
rather against expectation, found the work delightful.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
Highs: many. Working with Linda Partridge, and
encountering Misha Blagosklonny’s recent
hyperfunction theory of ageing, which is revolutionary
and, I suspect, holds the key to understanding ageing.
Lows: also many, but one gets inured to them to an
extent. The first 5 years of running my own lab involved
so much very hard work that seemed to achieve so
little - I became quite run down. The senseless
paperwork (particularly from the EU) can be dispiriting
as it wastes precious time that would otherwise be
spent on discovery or teaching the young. We must all
do what we can to reduce it to a necessary minimum.
It is also dispiriting when budding young scientists fail
to blossom, which sometimes happens.
I grew up in bleaker, more pessimistic times during the
Cold War and in the shadow of the hydrogen bomb, so
it is a wonder to me that each generation seems better
educated and more humane than the last. Working
with students has made me slightly more hopeful
about the long-term viability of humanity. Sometimes I
worry a little about students’ lack of engagement in
political and philosophical issues, which is critical to
ensure that one’s work as a scientist drives progress
and benefits humanity.
”
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
If you are considering continuing with research, it is
good to pick as a topic something that you feel really
passionate about, something that really matters. That
passion is the most dependable thing to keep you
working in the years ahead and in it lays the very
meaning of your work. Finding this may well require
changing topics – just as, as a rule, one should not
marry the first person that comes along.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Mostly it is that I just need something to do. I have an
inner compulsion to work, such that if I do not do it I
become morose and irritable, and even ill. Other
sources of motivation are compulsion (e.g. to avoid
getting fired and losing my salary), habit and, to an
extent, concern for the wellbeing and careers of the
scientists and students for who I am responsible. Also,
discovering the biological basis of ageing should greatly
improve the human condition and, having worked on this
mystery for so long, I want to know the answer.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Besides research, my main source of excitement and
amusement in life is my wife. Aside from her, simple
things make me happy…my children, tending to the
garden, watching films, and reading - which I do a lot
in the bath. I recently read Steven Pinker’s “The Better
Angels of our Nature”, which is perhaps one of the
most important books ever written. Everyone who
reads should read this book.
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page 36
DEBORAH
GILL
SENIOR LECTURER
UCL Medical School
Faculty of Medical Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Dr Deborah Gill is an inspirational figure, as
she is always full of energy, enthusiasm, and
innovative ideas. As the deputy director of
UCL Medical School, she is dedicated to the
excellence of UCL graduates in a constantly
changing medical world. Recently, she has
been pivotal in leading the implementation of
the new MBBS 2012 curriculum, a truly
herculean task considering the number of
stakeholders involved and the complexity of
the medical curriculum. It is only through
her dedication, commitment, and leadership
that this has been possible. Deborah is a
great leader, supervisor, teacher, and friend - a
role model in every sense, and an inspiration to
us all.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Flattered and surprised in equal measure. I suspect
like many I just thought I was doing my job to the best
of my ability. I am humbled that I have the respect of
my co-workers and am seen as a positive influence in
the academic community.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I fell into academia quite by accident. If you asked my
colleagues at medical school who was the most likely
to follow an academic pathway I might have been
quite a long way down their list. I undertook the
London Academic Training Scheme at Barts & the
London for a year after completing GP training and
was bitten by the bug! I then applied for a lecturer
post in primary care at the then Royal Free Medical
School department of primary care in a community
based teaching initiative and began to develop my
skills, network, publications and qualifications. During
this time my interests moved more towards medical
education in general rather than community based
teaching in particular so when a new post of part time
senior lecturer in the newly formed Academic Centre
for Medical Education (ACME) at the now merged
Medical School came up in 2002 I was ready to take
on new challenges. Over 10 years with ACME and the
UCL Medical School I have been involved in a wide
range of scholarship activities and am now proud to
lead the MBBS programme and look after the
education of over 2,000 medical students.
page 37
“
Over 10 years with ACME and the UCL Medical
School I have been involved in a wide range of
scholarship activities and am now proud to lead
the MBBS programme and look after the
education of over 2,000 medical students.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The high has got to be the day the Ed D (education
doctorate) got handed over to my supervisor: if only
for the sense of sheer relief! To be honest there are
not many lows. Working with teachers and students is
an inspiration every day and so no matter how lousy a
day has been there are always good bits.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Firstly, and most importantly, finish it! The American
writer and poet Dorothy Parker said ‘I hate writing. I
love to have written.’ So, even those who make writing
their career find it painful. I also remember my
supervisor saying: ‘Deborah, it will be neat, then it will
be messy, but don’t worry, it will be neat again
eventually’. That got me through some long evenings
and weekends.
”
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Coming to work at UCL Medical School is a joy (I hope
I don’t sound too Ann of Green Gables in saying that).
My colleagues are a constant source of inspiration,
support and guidance. So many things are really
satisfying – even if it is just completing a well written
report. Also our medical students are our greatest
asset and every day I am reminded of how special
every one of them is.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
When am I not working in SLMS?? Honestly I am also a
GP one day a week, a GP appraiser, a wife, a benignly
neglectful mother to a stroppy teenager and a school
governor at my local secondary school. When I have a
day (or hour) off I enjoy good friends, good wine,
gardening and cooking (badly).
Secondly, don’t get too hung up about ‘next steps’.
Opportunities and the career one builds from them
tend to fall into place rather than follow a grand master
plan. If the opportunity looks like you might meet some
interesting people, extend your CV and more
importantly you would enjoy doing it, than seize the
opportunity.
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page 38
ALLAN
HACKSHAW
PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
AND MEDICAL STATISTICS
UCL Cancer Institute
Faculty of Medical Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Professor Allan Hackshaw is the Assistant
Director of CRUK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre
(CTC). He is also a senior statistician who
supervises a group of 5 statisticians at CTC.
Allan is committed to his work, extremely hardworking and highly competent, qualities I
would like to see in the person I choose as my
role model. I would also like my academic role
model to be an excellent teacher who values
teaching. Allan is just that. He is brilliant at
explaining the most complicated concepts in
the simplest possible way, something that I
would like to copy in my own teaching
techniques. Above all I appreciate his support
to his colleagues. His door is always open. He
is also willing to encourage his fellow
statisticians to be independent and also to look
for pastures new using the experience gained
while working with him. Allan has certainly
influenced the way I think about clinical
research and also the way I would organise my
work life.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I was of course very pleased to be nominated. I did not
think that the attributes mentioned in the nomination
were anything special; they were characteristics I saw
in some of my peers during my career, so it is a
privilege to be able to pass these on to new
researchers and students. Two important aspects for
working successfully in medical research are (i) being
available to colleagues, especially if they have a
problem, and (ii) being able to describe your research
methods and findings as simply as possible, so that
many people can understand them.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I began as a Research Assistant/Statistician at the
Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine (Barts & The
London School of Medicine & Dentistry) in 1991,
working on a variety of topics, mainly neural tube
defects, antenatal Down’s syndrome screening, and
smoking and health. I learnt a lot from the experienced
people around me, and at other institutions, including
many scientific and practical aspects of epidemiology
and medical statistics (i.e. how to prevent, diagnose
and treat disease, or prevent early death). Over the
following years, I progressed to Lecturer then Senior
Lecturer. In 2003, I moved to UCL as Deputy Director of
the Cancer Research UK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre.
Here, I was promoted to Reader then Professor in
2011. My own career path has always been in the
academic sector, but there have been opportunities in
the private sector, so it has been comforting to have the
option to switch between the two.
page 39
“
”
I still get a buzz, even after teaching for so many
years, due to the interaction with students and
being challenged on aspects that I may take for
granted, but are not so obvious to others.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
There have been many highs over the past 22 years.
Research wise, these have included being a lead
investigator on some high profile projects that
changed public health or clinical practice worldwide.
Examples are:
• leading a report on lung cancer and passive
smoking (in the BMJ), later used as evidence for
the ban on smoking in public places;
• developing new approaches to screening for
Down’s syndrome in pregnancy, which became
common practice internationally (with Professor Sir
Nicholas Wald);
• two major cancer trials: one that found a safer and
quicker approach to treating thyroid cancer, and
the other that shows why it is important for women
with breast cancer who are on tamoxifen to
complete their 5-year course, and;
• the first comprehensive systematic review on
maternal smoking and birth defects, used to
encourage women to stop smoking before or early
on in pregnancy.
Taking these on, some of which were early in my
career, was initially daunting, but they prepared
me for later projects, including those that were difficult
or controversial.
Teaching is another major highlight. This has been
thoroughly enjoyable, particularly courses for Masters
and PhD students in biomedical research. I still get a
buzz, even after teaching for so many years, due to the
interaction with students and being challenged on
aspects that I may take for granted, but are not so
obvious to others. There are hardly any seminars from
which I have not learnt anything from the students. An
additional highlight is being able to collaborate with
the scientists in the UCL Cancer Institute, other
research units at UCL and elsewhere, especially when
they lead to developing new projects that could
potentially change clinical practice
There is no “low” in my career which I consider to be a
regret. Although hindsight is a wonderful thing, there
are no aspects of my career that I would have
avoided, but I would have done some differently. The
main reason for not having major regrets is that I
usually seek advice on important projects or career
prospects before making decisions about them. The
main “low”, however, has been having to deal with the
increasing amount of bureaucracy in human medical
research, much of which I don’t think really matters. It
has often been difficult to do, because I can compare
it to research 15-20 years ago, when studies could be
developed and conducted relatively quickly; as
opposed to the slow process now.
My main work now is to investigate new treatments
and screening for several cancers, using small or
large scale national/international clinical trials.
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WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
The advice relates to the time towards the end of the
project, and then during the early career, so I make the
distinction here.
• Try to take on a variety of different work, e.g.
research, collaborations, teaching, and
administration. You will probably do much better in
some areas than others, but the varied experience
could benefit you in the long run.
During the PhD:
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
• Aim to finish the dissertation on time, without
lingering too long on it. And keep focused, resisting
the temptation to expand the project because you
feel that you might not have enough;
• Make sure colleagues look at important parts of
the thesis closely, with recommendations for major
edits, if required. PhDs shouldn’t really be done in
complete isolation; they should reflect real life,
where research projects are collaborative;
• When writing the thesis, don’t write for yourself (you
know what you have done!). You are writing for
people (e.g. the examiners) who have never seen it
before, therefore what might look obvious to you
could be unclear to someone else;
• Don’t think of your study as ‘negative’ or ‘positive’;
both are unfortunate labels. All studies should
provide some new information, essentially making
them all positive. The most important aspects of a
PhD are not necessarily the final results
themselves, but rather how you have gone about
your study, i.e. the planning and execution,
interpretation of the findings, and thinking how your
study fits in with other work.
Motivation is to some extent a personal attribute, but
this often depends on an individual’s circumstances,
and pressures from other parts of their life. The
biggest source of motivation for me is working with
keen and enthusiastic people, and both new and
experienced researchers. And there are many such
people in the Cancer Trials Centre at UCL. Others are:
• Knowing that no matter how senior you might get in
your career, you can always still learn things from
other people, and especially from new researchers;
which can and should influence your way of
thinking;
• Being able to bounce ideas off other people;
• Working with people who can ‘see through’
bureaucracy;
• Having a variety of research areas and being able
to choose what to work on.
Early in your career:
• Don’t blindly accept what others say without
thinking it through for yourself;
• Take on work that stretches your abilities; you are
likely to learn many things this way, which prepare
you for more difficult projects later on. You should
always be part of a research team, with access to
any support you might need;
• Listen and learn from those who have many more
years of experience than you;
• Be patient with your research. Many new
researchers want to publish sooner rather than
later, but it is much better to think things through
carefully and get the right answer. Unfortunately,
there is often pressure to present or publish as
soon as possible, but I have seen examples where
early conclusions have changed completely when
a study has been analysed properly and the results
gone through in more depth;
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Although it is important to value work, one also needs
a social or family life, with sufficient interests and
activities outside of work. Many of my regular interests
are in central London, including cinema (of which
there is usually an excellent selection of international
films); some theatre (but not the big expensive
productions with a million people in the audience!);
and choosing from a vast array of restaurants, the
good as well as the bad. Otherwise, I try to travel
abroad several times a year, even if only for long
weekends, or a day or two tagged onto a work-related
conference or meeting. There are too many countries
to visit properly in a lifetime, but I hope to see as many
as I can, especially more of South America, Asia and
Africa.
page 41
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page 42
GRAHAM
HART
PROFESSOR OF SEXUAL
HEALTH AND HIV RESEARCH
Dean of the Faculty of Population
Health Sciences
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Graham Hart is an excellent communicator,
team leader and motivator. He provides juniors
with opportunities to develop their careers
whilst remaining engaged and supportive.
Graham achieves a healthy work life balance
and is an excellent role model.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Surprised and delighted. A great thing about being at
UCL is being part of a community: there’s a sense that
we’re all in this together, so let’s make a go of it.
People’s kindness and generosity always amaze me.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I realised at University that I wanted to have a research
career, and so went straight to doctoral studies and
was awarded my PhD when I was 25. Research posts
followed, until in 1986 I was offered a Lectureship in
Medical Sociology at the Middlesex Hospital Medical
School, doing research on HIV risk and the prevention
of AIDS, and teaching medical students across
London about this new disease. This was both a
frightening and exciting time – friends of mine died of
AIDS, but I was part of a group of people at UCL
trying to find ways to halt the epidemic.
SLMS Academic Role Models
I left London in 1994 to take up the post of Associate
Director of the MRC Social & Public Health Sciences
Unit, University of Glasgow, where I was Programme
Lead for HIV and Sexual Health. I was appointed
Professor there in 1999. At the beginning of 2006 I
returned to UCL as Director of the Centre for Sexual
Health and HIV Research. Since then I’ve been Head
of the Research Department of Infection & Population
Health, and Director of the Division of Population
Health (now renamed the Institute of Epidemiology &
Health Care). I became inaugural Dean of the Faculty
of Population Health Sciences in August 2011.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
My early work was on risk behaviour for HIV in
injecting drug users (IDUs) at a time when very little
was known about this, and my first peer-reviewed
publication was in the BMJ, which was very important
to me at the time. It also gave me confidence to apply
for research funding, and my first grant as PI was to
evaluate the impact of the first UK needle-exchange
scheme for IDUs, publications from which were
influential in drugs related HIV prevention throughout
the world.
I’ve had an incredibly varied career in terms of the
groups of people affected by HIV that I’ve worked with,
here and abroad, including men who have sex with men,
young people, sex workers, people living in rural Africa
and many others. Their lives and experiences are so
varied and interesting that it’s made me aware of other
issues (such as stigma, and violence against women)
about which I’d have known very little, had it not been for
my HIV research.
page 43
“
My motivation comes more from the people
around me – from the students I’m supervising,
the great researchers I work with, my academic
colleagues, right up to the senior management
team of the College.
”
I’ve been a member and sometimes Chair of grant
funding panels of the MRC, NIHR and the Department
of Health. It’s great to be in a position to support
research in this way, and award Fellowships to earlycareer researchers. It’s exciting being part of research
strategy at a national level, and hugely rewarding to be
involved in capacity building.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Some people might see becoming a Dean as a career
low, but I’m enjoying it.
Some people are single-minded about their research.
It’s so important to them that it propels them out of
bed every day and all the way through this week, next
month and the years to come. My motivation comes
more from the people around me – from the students
I’m supervising, the great researchers I work with, my
academic colleagues, right up to the senior
management team of the College.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
If you don’t have any publications yet, think about
which chapters or sections of your PhD will make
stand-alone papers. This is something that your
supervisors and examiners can help with.
I try to make the most of where I live – London Fields,
Hackney – by walking the dog, running and going to
the gym. I like the cafes and restaurants in Broadway
Market, and the great atmosphere of Columbia Road
flower market. My partner Chris is a keen gardener, so
there are lots of visits to garden centres, particularly in
the run-up to the National Garden Scheme open day
(usually in June for the London Fields Group). We like
the theatre, and I go to exhibitions whenever I have
annual leave – whatever is on at the time. London is
the best city in the world, and I love it.
If you’re going for an academic career it’s good to
apply for jobs at other universities and research
institutes rather than immediately thinking that you
should stay in the same place – getting a range of
experience is good. At the very least, work with a
different research group.
I can’t really advise on other careers, but would say
that if you have any uncertainty at all about pursuing
an academic career, don’t do it. It’s tough, competition
is intense and most post-docs won’t end up in
research or teaching.
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ANGELA
HASSIOTIS
READER IN PSYCHIATRY OF
LEARNING (INTELLECTUAL)
DISABILITIES
Mental Health Sciences Unit
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Dr Angela Hassiotis has been an inspirational
figure for colleagues and junior trainees and
has always taken an effort to help others
develop interest in research and academia.
She is very approachable and willing to
engage in various activities such as workshops
and lectures to generate interest among junior
trainees. She is actively involved in medical
student teaching and has supervised her
trainees in developing a medical education
module involving people with intellectual
disabilities from local boroughs. This provides
students to have a unique experience and also
provides people with intellectual disabilities
from local boroughs to have paid employment.
She is very flexible in her approach and helps
trainees to maximise their strengths and work
on their weakness by creating a blame free
environment. This helps in making the research
process enjoyable. She is a very motivational
leader and has guided her trainees to pursue a
career in academia by completing fellowships
and degrees in medical education.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am very pleased to be nominated! Working with
young researchers from a variety of backgrounds
brings significant responsibility in terms of ensuring
that we inspire them and help them along in their
chosen career. Leading a team of researchers and
successfully concluding projects and disseminating
the findings is a satisfactory experience and creates a
peer group aligning in common purpose. It is vital for
those training in our department to be able to
contribute and to receive the guidance and support in
doing so. I am fortunate to have been able to nurture
talented scientists and clinicians who will be
continuing the scientific effort in the future and have
learnt a lot myself from their responses to the various
challenges they have been faced with.
Furthermore, my nomination has come at a point
where my specialism – Psychiatry of Intellectual
Disability - is experiencing a period of exciting
opportunities as a result of medical advances and
investment by funding bodies. I sincerely hope that
these may act as a pivot to attracting high calibre
scientists and enhance our prospects to develop new
projects together with the wider community in the
School of Life and Medical Sciences.
page 45
“
I see what I do as a lifelong course with potential
to learn, improve and discover along the way and I
feel that much of what I do is under my control
within certain parameters. In my view, a useful
mind-set is one that considers challenges as
alerts for doing things differently.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
An important issue in my personal development was
the fact that I had come to train in Psychiatry in the UK
having spent my formative schooling including
undergraduate medical education in Greece.
Considerable work was required on my part to
assimilate a new way of reasoning and to consider the
direction in which I would take in pursuing research.
My academic career path began with the fairly low key
activity of writing a paper for publication under
supervision whilst still a junior trainee in psychiatry at
the Royal Free rotation. This gave me the
encouragement I needed to consider the possibility of
becoming more involved in research. A year as a
clinical fellow in an innovative community mental health
service produced further publications and allowed me
to become part of a peer group and enhanced my
interest in an academic path.
There has been mentoring and guidance by
established researchers along the way which I have
greatly appreciated and learnt from. Completing an
MA and later a PhD encapsulated the rigours of
academic endeavour in terms of shaping an argument
and resolving a problem. I was delighted to be
appointed as a Senior Lecturer at UCL within what
used to be called Department of Mental Health and
Behavioural Sciences and currently the Mental Health
Sciences Unit. It has been a supportive environment
all along with hard working and well known
researchers who took an interest in my work and those
partnerships have endured to this day. As a clinical
academic, I would like to mention my clinical work at
Camden and Islington Foundation NHS Trust who have
been very supportive of my academic role and my
”
service (Camden Learning Disability Service) who have
contributed too much of the research I have carried out
in recent years.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
Some of the highs: every time a paper finds its way to
publication and a grant application is successful;
celebrating successes within our research team
including those of the trainees I mentor and supervise;
becoming known and using our work to improve the
lives of people with intellectual disabilities.
Lows are temporary; I tend to see them as part of the
daily routine and take them as points of departure
towards a different direction that could be more fruitful.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
In my supervisory and mentoring role, I always try to
link people with other scientists in their fields and try to
map to an extent possible trajectories for their work.
Being involved in academic publications within their
specific field but also working on other options as they
arise helps to develop professional networks and
enhances academic skills; making contacts and
helping out in projects that established academics are
considering are always good opportunities to remain
involved and potentially provide the next step in the
career ladder. I think it is important to be engaged with
and interested in under and post graduate education
by teaching and undertaking some supervision of
students themselves. Applications for further research
fellowships either UK or EU funded, if successful, can
lead to prestigious awards that can help to develop a
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 46
longer term research framework. SLMS and the wider
UCL provide a wealth of experience and opportunities
and students should be vigilant to take advantage of
the infrastructure and support. Having a family need
not be a barrier to success and I have seen many of
our trainees managing the demands of both by being
reliable and on time with their work commitments. This
is where I think that a supervisor’s support and
guidance might be of greatest value. Finally, I can
never stress enough the importance of probity,
governance and respect for the work of others.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I like my work and I believe that I can make a
difference for the benefit of our service users. I see
what I do as a lifelong course with potential to learn,
improve and discover along the way and I feel that
much of what I do is under my control within certain
parameters. In my view, a useful mind-set is one that
considers challenges as alerts for doing things
differently. Motivation may also be provided by new
opportunities that arise; new techniques that are being
trialled or positions that become available. Asking for
help in tackling a difficult issue can lead to an answer
that has eluded us; as can being curious and
engaged with one’s peers and environment. And of
course one should not forget that there are rewards as
well in terms of impact of our work, recognition and
inspiring others on the way including opening a
dialogue with a lay audience who may be the
recipients of the outcomes of our endeavours.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I have a variety of interests including a daily exercise
routine, reading several books a year, watching
movies, listening to opera, attending arts events and
travelling, sometimes linked with some work related
invitation or winter sports. I tend to use Sunday
afternoons to respond to emails so Mondays are not
overwhelming but I will keep one day over the
weekend free for socialising and pouring over the
(hard copy versions of) newspapers. The social media
keeps me in touch with friends, family and the world.
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page 47
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page 48
AROON
HINGORANI
DIRECTOR OF UCL INSTITUTE
OF CARDIOVASCULAR
SCIENCE
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
I nominated Aroon Hingorani because I am
part of a large and diverse team carrying out a
five year programme which he won with the
collaboration of many. I am not merely
impressed by his intelligence and academic
acumen, and his ability to inspire interest in the
research topic; it is more the kind, patient and
unselfish manner with which he has pursued
his academic goals. To bring and keep
together a team where much collaboration and
compromise was required without ever
appearing to “lose his cool”, and to treat each
person with enormous respect, requires a
special person.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I was touched by the kind words of the person who
nominated me. Many people have had a positive
influence on my own career; it came as a bit of
surprise to be thinking I might be influencing others in
a positive way.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I did an undergraduate degree in Physiological
Sciences in Oxford and then came to Guy’s Hospital in
London to complete my clinical training. I qualified in
1989 and did my house jobs on the Guy’s rotation. I did
6-month senior house officer jobs in London at
Hammersmith, The National Hospital Queen Square
(before it became part of UCL Hospitals), Barts and the
Middlesex. I trained in Cardiology/Clinical
Pharmacology, Neurology, Renal Medicine and
HIV/Respiratory Medicine respectively. I wanted to get
as broad a background in Medicine as I could. I
entered the St.George’s Hospital Specialist Registrar
rotation in 1992 and did a year of Medicine and
Cardiology at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in
Guildford. I then decided to do a PhD and worked at
this for 3 years in the Clinical Pharmacology Unit at
Cambridge on an MRC Clinical Training Fellowship. I
returned to London in 1996, completing my SpR
training in Clinical Pharmacology and General Medicine
at UCH. During that time I failed to get an MRC Clinical
Scientist Fellowship but managed to get British Heart
Foundation funding, first as an Intermediate and then
Senior Research Fellow. During that time I was
appointed as a Senior Lecturer at UCL. I became an
Honorary Consultant at UCH in 2000. In 2008, I moved
page 49
“
I was touched by the kind words of the person
who nominated me. Many people have had a
positive influence on my own career; it came as a
bit of surprise to be thinking I might be influencing
others in a positive way.
my research base from the UCL Division of Medicine
to the UCL Department of Epidemiology and Public
Health, though I continue to play an active role
teaching Medicine and Therapeutics and continue to
work as a Consultant at UCH on the General Medicine
and Clinical Pharmacology service. In 2011, I became
Director of UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
An academic career comes with a lot of freedom and I
have been lucky enough to enjoy the jobs I have done.
Science and medicine continue to be fascinating and
there is always the thrill of finding something new, no
matter how modest. The advances in understanding
the genetic basis of common human diseases in the
last 5-7 years have been particularly exciting. Seeing
the people I work with progress and become
independent is also very rewarding as is helping to
train each new generation of medical students. But an
academic career can also be demanding. The
toughest periods have been those when the demands
of work and family life have both been high, such as
when taking professional exams and helping to look
after our two young children.
”
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Smile! This is probably your last exam. Decide
whether you wish to continue on an academic track; if
you do, it can be hugely rewarding, but be prepared
for rejection from time to time (grants, papers etc.) and
to be adaptable. Running a research group feels at
times a bit like running a small business – you need to
generate grant income, appoint and manage staff and
produce a successful research product.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I like the work I am doing. I am lucky enough to work
with some really clever, enthusiastic people –
importantly all of them have a sense of fun. If my
motivation flags, my wife lists all the other things I
could have been doing had I been less fortunate.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Nothing very exciting I’m afraid. I cycle and run a bit,
watch my son and daughter play hockey and football,
meet friends; enjoy nice meals, and holidays with
family and friends.
My wife is now a Consultant Ophthalmologist so
juggling the demands of two medical careers was
difficult. We opted to train in London as this provided
the best chance of us working as near to one another
as possible. Trying to ensure that our on-call rotas
coincided, so we managed to see one another on
nights off, was also challenging. When we were SHOs
on 6-month contracts, there were several periods of
great uncertainty.
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page 50
DAVID
ISENBERG
PROFESSOR OF
RHEUMATOLOGY
Division of Medicine
Faculty of Medical Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
David Isenberg has been instrumental in
developing and encouraging the careers of
many young academic rheumatologists at UCL
and elsewhere for the last thirty years. I don’t
know anyone who has a better understanding
of what it takes to develop a career in
academic rheumatology or the best way to
approach those challenges. He has also
approached the same issues on a national
scale as President of the British Society of
Rheumatology and more locally as Chair of the
North London Rheumatology training rotation.
He will go out of his way to advise young
rheumatologists thinking about an academic
career and his advice will always be good. He
combines teaching, research and clinical skill in
a way that many people would like to emulate
but few ever will. He has an international
reputation in the field of rheumatology research,
especially systemic lupus erythematosus. Many
academic rheumatologists (including me) would
not be in academic careers today if it were not
for David Isenberg.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Both honoured and a little embarrassed. At heart, I still
feel myself to be the little kid that I was wandering
around the streets of Tottenham during the great days
of “the Double”. I come from a family full of doctors so
it was no surprise that I opted to become a doctor, but
any success I have had is predicated by a very simple
principle (which I have also tried to instil into my own
kids) that ultimately success, whatever you do, is 90%
perspiration and 10% inspiration – remembering
although “chance favours the prepared mind” – you
still have to have the chance and then try to make the
best of it.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
Although I knew I wanted to be a doctor, but when
qualified, I had really no idea which sub-specialty to
follow. A chance meeting with Michael Snaith, then
recently appointed consultant rheumatologist at UCH,
persuaded me that rheumatology was going to be a
good choice. Having the opportunity to work with Ivan
Roitt at the Middlesex Hospital and Robert Schwartz in
Boston, taught me the fascination of research in
general and immunology, in particular. I returned from
a very happy and successful period in Boston to
establish a research laboratory at UCH/UCL, the rest
was down to writing a very large number of grants and
talent spotting!
page 51
“
…any success I have had is predicated by a very
simple principle (which I have also tried to instil
into my own kids) that ultimately success,
whatever you do, is 90% perspiration and 10%
inspiration – remembering although “chance
favours the prepared mind
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The high points were being invited to give the
Heberden Round at The British Society for
Rheumatology in 2002, and winning the Evelyn Hess
Prize awarded by the American College of
rheumatology for a major contribution to systemic
lupus erythematosus (in 2010, I was the first non-North
American to win this). I have also rather enjoyed
challenging editorial decisions to reject manuscripts
that I and colleagues have sent and getting the verdict
changed! The lowest point, from which I learnt an
important lesson, was having gone to the then
Professor of Medicine at UCH (this happened many
years ago!) and proposing an article on inflammatory
muscle disease, writing the first and four further drafts
entirely on my own, only to be told as the manuscript
was to be submitted, that professor of medicine had
decided that he would be the first author! From this, I
learnt how not to behave. I have always tried to follow
the dictum of a very famous Rabbi, Hillel, who
formulated a “golden” rule that, “Do not do unto thy
fellow men what is hateful to thee. This is the whole
law, the rest is commentary”.
Much sadder “lows” have been the deaths of several,
often young patients from the various autoimmune
rheumatic diseases that I specialise in.
Let’s finish on “a high”! Certainly, as I have progressed
through my career, it has become a greater and greater
pleasure to witness the success of both clinician
scientists and basic scientists to whom I have been able
to “give a chance”. I think it has been important to
employ an “open door” policy (I really must get that door
”
fixed!) so that people working in academic rheumatology
in the unit I direct know that I don’t stand on ceremony
and if there is a problem, I would much rather hear about
it sooner rather than later!
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Don’t hang about, get it done as soon as possible and
make sure both of your supervisors read every
paragraph, sentence, word, comma, full stop - much
better to get the criticism before you submit it!
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
As above, watching patients especially young patients
suffer from the diseases I helped to look after and in
some sad cases dying from them. It is a huge
motivation reminding me that though we have made
huge advances, there is so much more we need to
know. I am also a great believer in the comment of the
late Peter Medawar that “Isolation in science is over.
We all depend upon and sustain one another.” I have
always found working with colleagues to be an
enriching experience.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I greatly enjoy writing songs and performing with my
band, Lupus Dave and the Davettes, and spending
time with my family, especially our newest member, my
first granddaughter, Rosa, and although there is
usually more pain involved than pleasure, making
reasonable use of my Spurs Season ticket (I think of
the money that it costs me as a sort of charitable
donation really!).
SLMS Academic Role Models
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ANNE
JOHNSON
PROFESSOR OF
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Institute of Epidemiology &
Health
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
As previous Head of the Division of Population
Health, and now a SLMS Domain Chair and
Wellcome Trust Governor, Professor Anne
Johnson has an excellent knowledge and
understanding of UCL, as well as being aware
of opportunities for career development
through external funding sources. Anne is
highly respected in the field of Population
Health, particularly for leading the National
Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles since
their inception in 1989. Her current research
portfolio includes international HIV cohort
studies, behavioural intervention studies and a
community study of the epidemiological and
immunological determinants of seasonal
influenza transmission (MRC Fluwatch), with
collaborations with colleagues in Europe,
Africa and China. Anne is very approachable
and always supportive of junior staff by
providing opportunities to develop expertise,
helping to resolve issues, and offering careers
advice and guidance.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Delighted, of course! Especially pleased that it
emphasises mentoring younger colleagues. It’s always
good to have a small hand in helping others flourish,
and selfishly it’s a win-win, as often great for one’s
collaborative research output.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
Training in Medicine, General Practice and Public
Health where I soon realised I was interested in a
research career. A chance meeting with Mike Adler
(now Emeritus Professor) led to a 2 year lectureship in
epidemiology and public health at the Middlesex
Hospital Medical (now part of UCL) to study AIDS
epidemiology at the start of the epidemic. I never got
round to leaving. I developed a research programme
and MRC funded group on HIV epidemiology and
climbed the academic promotion ladder to Head of
Division, had two children, a sabbatical in Australia,
and sat on innumerable government and funding
committees on the way. With Anthony Costello, I set up
the UCL Institute for Global Health and now Chair the
Grand Challenge and the Population Health Domain.
page 53
“
”
It’s always good to have a small hand in helping
others flourish, and selfishly it’s a win-win, as often
great for one’s collaborative research output.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
Highs: The early, fast moving days of the AIDS
epidemic. A combination of scientific excitement and
despair, uncertainty, politics, and public engagement
with the opportunity to build scientific collaborations
that have lasted over 25 years. Publishing the first
results of the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and
Lifestyles in 1992. More recently working right across
UCL Faculties to develop the Institute for Global Health
and working on the Lancet/ UCL Commission on
Managing the Health effects of Climate Change.
Becoming a Wellcome Trust governor.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Through people and their ideas. And fear of boredom.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
My biggest commitment outside SLMS is my work as a
Wellcome Trust Governor, a fascinating strategic role
from which I am constantly learning right across the
breadth of science from molecular biology to global
health and medical humanities. Of course, I highly
value my home, family and social life, where most of
us, men and women, however hard we work, spend
most of our lives.
Lows: The annual round of budgetary cuts in our
incomprehensible Resource Allocation Model as Head
of Division. ‘Jam yesterday, jam tomorrow but never
jam today’
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Regard it as a marathon and not a sprint. The pain will
be worth it for the exhilaration and career
opportunities of finishing. And once you’ve got your
breath back, get those papers published from it. Noone but you, your supervisors and examiner will ever
read your magnum opus, but there is a potential huge
audience for papers you publish.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 54
STEVE
JONES
EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF
HUMAN GENETICS
Division of Biosciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Mention the name Steve Jones to pretty much
anyone and they will know who you are talking
about. Steve is one of the most famous
geneticists of our time, known throughout the
world due his numerous best-selling popular
science books including ‘Almost Like a Whale’
and ‘Y: The Descent of Men’. As Steve’s
Wikipedia entry states, “In 1996 his writing won
him the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for
his numerous, wide ranging contributions to
the public understanding of science in areas
such as human evolution and variation, race,
sex, inherited disease and genetic
manipulation through his many broadcasts on
radio and television, his lectures, popular
science books, and his regular science column
in The Daily Telegraph and contributions to
other newspaper media.”
Steve’s success in taking science to the
masses, annually enthusing hundreds of
biologists through his teaching at UCL and
beyond, as well as his significant contributions
to genetics research, make him the perfect
academic role model.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am pleased to be nominated, but there are plenty of
people at UCL more worthy than me. Long ago I made
the wise decision to be born at the right time, which
meant that I came to London and UCL in the early
1970s when universities were expanding and before
the start of the blizzard of forms, appraisals and calls
for self-justification that fill most waking hours today. As
I sometimes say to my young colleagues here, “Don’t
worry, the first forty years are the worst”; but in fact I
have real loyalty to the College and can think of
nowhere else I would prefer to be: what I really mean
is “Don’t worry, the next forty universities are not as
good at fending off the paperwork as we are”.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
Linear, until I hit a roadblock. I started writing an
undergraduate essay on the population genetics of
land snails in 1965, and scribbled away happily at it
for a quarter of a century. Then the money ran out and,
at almost at the same time, in 1991, I was asked to
give the BBC Reith Lectures on genetics. It was the
ideal time to do so, for marvellous things were
happening in the science, although the public knew
almost nothing about them (and now indeed things
have become so confused that it may be better that its
present state is hidden from public view). That led to a
TV series which involved visits to, inter alia, the electric
chair in Georgia, the survivors of Hiroshima, and the
ruined city of Great Zimbabwe. Since then I may have
spent too much time on the public understanding of
science – but I still manage to keep the snail work
going (it is, on the other hand, a pretty sluggish field).
page 55
“
The high point, and I remember it well, was
standing on a remote hillside in Yugoslavia, as it
then was, and realising that I could predict what
the genes would be in the population on the
hillside opposite
”
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The high point, and I remember it well, was standing
on a remote hillside in Yugoslavia, as it then was, and
realising that I could predict what the genes would be
in the population on the hillside opposite: a trivial
discovery indeed, but my first; and everyone
remembers that. Low point, releasing two million
genetically marked fruit flies on the California Channel
Islands, and getting none of them back.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Force of habit.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I write books, fairly obsessively (and often on trains)
and spend quite a lot of time in France so doing. I am
also on far too many committees outside UCL and go
to lots of schools and schools conferences, usually
talking to around 20,000 school pupils a year. Now and
again I go for a walk.
Nil desperandum: you will get there in the end, and
this is the moment in your career to decide whether or
not you can keep running up the down escalator fast
enough to get to the top; in other words whether to
stay in, what is now an intensely competitive, uncertain
and micro-managed University business, or whether to
get out into the real world.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 56
PENG TEE
KHAW
PROFESSOR OF GLAUCOMA
AND OCULAR HEALING
Institute of Ophthalmology
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Professor Peng Khaw is one of the world’s
leading eye and vision scientists. Peng has
great strategic vision; he is a tireless advocate
for patients and their families and is a highly
effective fundraiser. He provides great
leadership for ophthalmology worldwide and
has just completed his term as President of
ARVO (the world’s largest vision and
ophthalmology research organisation in
the world).
Despite his immensely busy schedule, Peng
always has time for his staff, being very
approachable and easy to talk to, and always
has viable solutions for difficult problems. He
once flew to the other side of the world for 48
hours to help me out of a difficult political
situation when I was a PhD student. He is a
truly inspirational mentor.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Pleasantly surprised and rather humbled.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I qualified as a medical doctor and was very inspired
by several of my teachers, particularly those who were
superb clinicians. They taught me the art of medicine,
and how to listen to and enjoy working with my patients
to make them better. I trained in general medicine and
then in ophthalmology. I came to Moorfields as a senior
trainee and remember looking after a young child with
glaucoma (caused by eye pressure), who had had
many operations and anaesthetics but who eventually
lost her vision. This was because all her operations had
failed due to scarring and complications for which we
had no effective treatment. I remember visiting an eye
hospital in Florida and one of the world authorities in the
field took his entire lunch hour to talk to an unknown
visiting resident (me), he inspired me to think about the
importance of scarring. Rather than taking a consultant
job, I applied to the Wellcome Trust and did a PhD in
the lab to study scarring, including spending a year in
the USA. During this time, I discovered that very short
5-minute applications of anti-cancer drugs could put
fibroblast cells into growth arrest for extraordinarily long
periods, and that simple changes in surgical technique
could make the surgery much safer. This allowed better
control of scarring, which is a major reason for the
failure of glaucoma surgery, and is also relevant in
every blinding disease.
These techniques have since been adopted around the
world, and have made surgery more effective and safe. I
always get immense satisfaction when doctors write to
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 57
“
Because research has been so clearly life
changing for my patients, I have been delighted
that the inspiring story of one of my young
patients has helped us fundraise and build a
new children’s hospital and research centre
at Moorfields.
”
me from many countries telling me how much better
their patients are doing as a result of changing their
surgical technique. A few years ago, the same doctor
who took time to inspire me came up to me and gave
me a hug because my technique had transformed the
outcome for his patients. I told him the story of the
resident he had inspired to do this research, and that
that resident was me, and how I was so pleased that I
had repaid his kindness through our research.
I was lucky enough to have had the first 50:50 NHS
research consultant job at Moorfields created for me,
which allowed me to continue my research and build
my research group. I was awarded a personal chair at
UCL five years after becoming a consultant. I have
been fortunate to have worked with some truly
outstanding doctors and scientists through my career
many of whom are now Professors at UCL and Heads
of Departments around the world from the USA to
Australia. Because research has been so clearly life
changing for my patients, I have been delighted that
the inspiring story of one of my young patients has
helped us fundraise and build a new children’s
hospital and research centre at Moorfields.
More recently, I have taken on further roles facilitating
research, including Director of Research and
Development at Moorfields, UCLP Eyes and Vision, the
NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields and
the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. I am particularly
keen to encourage a new generation of researchers,
and have pushed for this, so that, for example, we
have gone from none to nine clinical lecturers.
Research is the life blood of innovation and
improvement. Recently, I was elected President of the
Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
(ARVO), which is the largest eye and vision research
organisation in the world. I reflected that what the
membership had in common, from the first year PhD
students to the Nobel prize winners, was that we all
want to feel we have each made a difference in our
lifetime. The theme set for the 2013 ARVO meeting was
'Life-Changing Research' which reflects how research
inspires us as human beings, changes our lives, our
families’ lives, stimulates innovation and industry, and
of course patients around the world.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The highs of my career relate to discoveries from our
research that has improved the lives of my patients
and many other people around the world. The lows
related to not being able to help some of my patients.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Just write it. If you can finish writing your thesis, you
will almost certainly get your PhD.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I enjoy talking and interacting with people. They, and
particularly my patients, inspire and motivate me. I am
constantly amazed at the ability of people to cope with
great hardship and difficulty in their lives. I also enjoy
listening to inspirational individuals. Watch Bill Gates’
recent Dimbleby Lecture on polio – just amazing.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Relax at home.
SLMS Academic Role Models
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JOSEF
KITTLER
READER IN MOLECULAR AND
CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
Division of Biosciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Josef Kittler studies the trafficking of
membrane proteins and subcellular organelles
such as mitochondria, by combining an
impressive array of different techniques
including molecular and cell biology,
electrophysiology, quantum dot imaging, and
confocal and 2 photon imaging. His work has
been recognised with the award of a Wellcome
Advanced Training Award, an MRC Career
Development Award and Senior Fellowship, a
Lister prize and a European Research Council
Award. He runs a large and happy group of
creative, enthusiastic people.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Thanks! I am delighted.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
UCL! Or to be a little more precise after studying
Biochemistry at the University of Bath I worked on the
neurobiology of inhibitory ion channels as a PhD
student and postdoc at the MRC Laboratory for
Molecular Cell Biology with Stephen Moss. Following
on from this I trained with David Attwell as a Wellcome
Training Fellow in the Physiology Department. I stayed
at UCL to start my lab with Career Development
funding from the MRC and I am currently an MRC
Senior Non-clinical Fellow.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The first few years when I started my lab were very
hard work but also a lot of fun and it was a great
feeling when the first few pieces of work from the lab
came to fruition and then were finally accepted for
publication. It’s also great when a lab member gets a
cool and exciting new result.
SLMS Academic Role Models
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“
The freedom to think up and then test out new
ideas and the opportunity to interact with very
clever, energetic and enthusiastic young
researchers in my lab is truly a privilege and a
major motivator.
”
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Aim high for your PhD. This will put you in a strong
position to go on and get a great postdoc. But
realistically to achieve that, you need to be creative,
rigorous and really (really) hard working. Being smart
and lucky also helps! A successful PhD and
importantly a great paper (or two) will be a passport
to independent fellowship funding and open the
door to the best labs in the world. Moving to a
postdoctoral position is also a fabulous opportunity to
learn something completely new, expand your
scientific horizons and experience life and research in
another country.
When I can find the time there are lots of great
markets to check out in London (and museums too!).
But it’s also great to escape the city and I love to travel
and explore new and exciting countries and places. I
particularly enjoy exploring the National Parks and
deserts in the USA (which alas I get to visit only once
every few years).
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
The freedom to think up and then test out new ideas
and the opportunity to interact with very clever,
energetic and enthusiastic young researchers in my
lab is truly a privilege and a major motivator. Seeing
the PhD students that trained with me going on to do
great things in their future careers is also very
rewarding and motivating.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 60
DIMITRI
KULLMANN
PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY
Institute of Neurology
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Dimitri’s approach to science and scientific
enquiry is inspiring. His approach to science is
often guided by his clinical background, and yet
he demonstrates that drawing a line between
“basic” and “clinical” research is an artifice, and
that allowing the two to fuel each other in
complementary ways can lead to great
advances. Along with that, his continued
intensive involvement in both research and
clinical practice is admirable and inspiring.
People joining the lab are awed by Dimitri’s
technical expertise, knowledge and speed in
identifying technical limitations of experiments.
And yet with all this technical know-how, it is
inspiring to see Dimitri asking whatever
questions come to mind. This gives others the
confidence to ask their own questions and
engenders an environment of enquiry. In
mentoring others, he balances his own scientific
interests with an ability to enable junior
researchers to develop their own research
interests, and by so doing, novel directions of
research emerge. His encouragement of junior
researchers to pursue their own questions and
independence has resulted in many going on to
independent positions.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am flattered and embarrassed!
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I flip-flopped for a long time between medicine and
research and discovered that I would always be
unhappy doing either or the other in isolation. I
managed to find a balance that suits me but I took
many risks with my career along the way.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
I am probably not alone in having found myself in what
seemed like a blind alley a few times in my career. It’s
important to have the confidence to admit when this
has happened, cut your losses and start again in a
new direction.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Remember that your PhD was the time when your
focus was the narrowest it had ever been. You should
now work to broadening your horizons. See where your
methods can also be applied, find out what other
methods might be around the corner, and make
contact with people in neighbouring areas to see if
you can contribute to solving their questions. A
complete change of environment is a good thing.
page 61
“
”
I am fortunate to be surrounded by talented
people working on inter-related topics, and there
is always an experiment generating exciting
results happening on any day.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I am fortunate to be surrounded by talented people
working on inter-related topics, and there is always an
experiment generating exciting results happening on
any day.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I think it’s important to step back and do something
completely different. If nothing else it gives you an
opportunity to ask yourself why you are working
on a particular question. My clinical work achieves this
to some extent, because most of it is quite unrelated
to my research, but I am also unapologetic about
taking holidays.
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page 64
CATHERINE
LAW
PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC
HEALTH AND EPIDEMIOLOGY
Institute of Child Health
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Catherine goes above and beyond what is
required of a supportive line manager. She has
employed individuals from a range of
backgrounds and has always encouraged them
to hone and strive to achieve, their short- and
long- term career goals, no matter what they
might be. She supports her staff to develop their
broader academic interests, for example through
sitting on committees or attending conferences,
and actively endorses the value of a healthy
work-life balance. Catherine has been extremely
successful in her career, but is renowned for
being friendly and approachable; she has acted
as inspiration and a source of advice to many
individuals from both within and outside the
Department. She excels in communicating her
research to a range of audiences in a clear and
non-patronising manner, and encourages others
to do the same. She works with the Department
of Health and other policy makers at the
interface of research and policy, and is
committed to ensuring that research is informed
by, and communicated to, interested parties
through her involvement in organisations such as
INVOLVE and the National Children’s Bureau. In
summary, Catherine’s attitude, success and
affability make her an inspiring role model. She
is a motivating mentor to her staff and others,
and is passionate about investing in the next
generation of researchers.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am honoured and also quite surprised. I have been
able to do many interesting activities in my career and
I hope that the people I work with feel encouraged to
do this too. I am quite concerned that the pressure to
publish, get grants etc, pushes aside time for really
worthwhile, broader activities. But such activities are
essential for personal development which in turn feeds
into greater success in core academic outputs such
as papers and successful funding applications.
I am glad my endorsement of a healthy work-life
balance is apparent to my colleagues as I am not
always that good at self-enforcement. But I work better
when I play better and I try to remember this. None of
us are indispensable.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
Hard to define! I trained originally in paediatrics but
became interested in public health and I have always
liked numbers, so epidemiology was attractive. I
haven’t had very conventional academic jobs but I
have been lucky enough to be employed by
organisations that value the many ways in which
research can be carried out and used.
page 65
“
”
In different ways I am trying to promote children’s
health and to tackle social injustice. What greater
motivation could I have when so much needs to
be done?
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
A high was being Scientific Secretary of the
‘Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health’,
chaired by Sir Donald Acheson (in 1997/8). It was the
first time I felt able to make a significant contribution to
public health and was very intensive work, but I loved
it. I am still working with some of the people I met then.
And then my first day at the Institute of Child Health,
it was early September and I felt like I was starting a
new school.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
In different ways I am trying to promote children’s health
and to tackle social injustice. What greater motivation
could I have when so much needs to be done?
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Watch Southampton Football Club (well someone’s got
to), garden and sail.
I haven’t really had any lows, I have been unbelievably
lucky. The first time I chaired a committee in public (for
NICE) was rather nerve-wracking, but it went ok.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
It will never be perfect, but if you do it well it will
always be a source of pride to you. Also, enjoy your
viva - it’s your chance to discuss what you have been
working so hard on all this time - with people who are
really interested in what you think.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 66
NILLI
LAVIE
PROFESSOR OF
PSYCHOLOGY AND BRAIN
SCIENCES
Institute of Cognitive
Neuroscience
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Professor Lavie has worked for over 20 years in
experimental psychology and cognitive
neuroscience, specializing in human visual
attention, perception and psychophysics.
Through the creation and development of her
Load Theory of Selective Attention (Lavie,
1995), Nilli Lavie has made a seminal
contribution to the scientific field. The theory
provides a solution to the long standing
problem of early vs. late selection in human
information processing. As her PhD students
and Post-Doctoral researchers, we can attest
that she stands out among supervisors for her
exceptional generosity with her time, not only
giving a rare level of hands-on supervision for
on-going projects, but also giving up
considerable time to selflessly promote the
careers of others. She also represents a
particularly strong role model for young
researchers by demonstrating that through a
high level of efficiency it is possible to combine
an outstandingly successful academic career
with a healthy work/life balance. In short, Nilli
Lavie’s exceptional contribution to science,
coupled with her dedication to nurturing the
potential of her students, makes her an
outstanding candidate for the UCL academic
role model initiative.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am deeply delighted that my students, postdocs and
colleagues have nominated me. While I am flattered by
all the nice comments made I am particularly happy to
see that my group of young researchers have felt well
cared for and assessed me as “a particularly strong
role model for young researchers by demonstrating
that through a high level of efficiency it is possible to
combine an outstandingly successful academic career
with a healthy work/life balance.” I believe that showing
that it is possible to accomplish academic goals while
also maintaining a good life style is the key to true
success.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I obtained my first degrees in Psychology and
Philosophy at Tel Aviv University, where I also
conducted my PhD in Cognitive Psychology. I came up
with “Load Theory” during my PhD (Following my
advisor’s suggestion that I should come up with whole
new theory for my PhD). I conducted my postdoc
research as an independent research fellow (funded
by the Miller Institute for Basic Sciences) in Anne
Treisman’s lab at UC Berkeley. I then joined the MRC
Applied Psychology Unit at Cambridge as a junior
scientist and 2 years later took my first lectureship
position at UCL, where I stayed ever since.
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“
”
Overall my advice is that if you want a job that will
never cease to stimulate you then a career in
science is the way to go.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The first high of my career was looking at the dataset
from my first experimental test of Load Theory and
seeing that the data supported my prediction! The
most recent high was while reuniting with former PhD
students and postdocs of mine from different “lab
generations” (many of whom are now in senior
academic position) during a celebratory symposium
associated with my receipt of the mid-career award
from the Experimental Psychology Society, UK. In
between the first and most recent highs I have had
many other highs. These were either associated with
specific scientific achievements (e.g. a good new
idea, nice new result, new collaboration, convincing
Toyota HQ that our work on load should be taken into
consideration in the design of future cars) or with
career progression of my lab members (e.g. whenever
a lab member secures a good academic position). As
for lows, I had a few during my PhD (because my
supervisor was not convinced by my theory) but once
I received my PhD, apart from rejection of some damn
good grant proposals, I cannot recall any others! On
the whole I feel that a major bonus of a scientific
career is that it keeps on getting better and better.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
I believe that if you have the knack for it (and finishing
off a PhD here at UCL is a good indication that you
do!) science is the best career to go for. This is
because while in many careers your job remains the
same and therefore one faces the risk of getting
stagnant, in science you are always going forward
pursuing novel interesting questions and you never
stop learning. Moreover a career in science has a
healthy mix of reading, thinking and being creative,
together with working collaboratively with other people,
advising, managing and supervising. Overall my
advice is that if you want a job that will never cease to
stimulate you then a career in science is the way to go.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
The fact that there is always interesting new ideas,
questions and challenges at various levels: from
theoretical concepts to designing experiments and
interpreting new data; and in a range of topics: from
basic science to applied directions and conveying the
implications of the research to the media means I never
have to worry about keeping motivated.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
When I am not working as a scientist, I fulfil my other
careers as a mother (for two lovely boys) and as a
woman (e.g. keeping up with fashion, fitness and good
girly gossip!). I also enjoy keeping up to date with
indie-rock music (I am a “confirmed XFM listener”- you
may need to listen to this station to get what I mean)
and any new cool gadgets (some friends call me
techno-chick). One of my former students sent me a
card, which quotes: “Successful women can still have
their feet on the ground they just wear better shoes”. I
have adopted this as one of my personal mottos.
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MARILENA
LOIZIDOU
SENIOR LECTURER
Division of Surgery &
Interventional Sciences
Faculty of Medical Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
I have known Marilena for many years and
have witnessed her professional attitude when
chairing many teaching committees, where she
always demonstrates a positive attitude to
junior staff. She is the lead for several UCL
based BSc/MSc courses, where she lectures
on surgical oncology and nanotechnology.
Marilena also has an active research team
investigating the role of endothelins in
colorectal cancers and has developed a
national and international research reputation.
These activities give her a balanced outlook
on academia, which will allow her to give
measured guidance from a secure
academic foundation.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I was pleasantly surprised, since I did not expect this.
UCL has amazing academics and teachers who are
world class. Being nominated is an honour.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
Rather unconventional: I was born in Cyprus, went to
university in Canada (Biochemistry) and returned to
the UK to undertake graduate studies. I studied for a
Masters in Pharmacology in Southampton; and then
worked full time as a clinical biochemist, while doing
my PhD part time. My head of Department (Surgery)
was headhunted to come to UCL and offered his
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group positions here. I had always been involved in
both teaching and research and I find the combination
enriching. At UCL I have created/helped create new
courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level
(iBS’s in Tumour Biology, Surgical Science; MSc’s in
Surgical Science, Nanotechnology and Regenerative
Medicine, Evidence Based Healthcare; distance
learning); throughout I have been research active in
the field of solid tumour pharmacology and now head
the Cancer Nanotechnology group in the Division.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
Highs: Like other colleagues, when a grant awarding
body says “yes” (not often enough!).
Prizes awarded by peer review and assessment, either
personal or to students, are recognition that our
activities are worthwhile and relevant. I was awarded
the Excellence in Medical Education award (2010) as
part of the team that created the innovative iBSc in
Surgical Science. Another high came from the MSc in
Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine being
cited in Nature (careers and recruitment, 2009) as an
innovative course. Finally, it is always rewarding when
my students (and myself when a student in the distant
past) are awarded prizes for research presentations at
international conferences.
Lows: Like other colleagues, when a grant awarding
body says “no”.
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“
I get a huge buzz from doing translational research
that has real potential for clinical applications;
finding out whether an off-the-wall experiment
worked; getting unexpected, exciting results that
offer new possibilities; and in meetings when
discussing how to take research forward, when it all
comes together the group energy is amazing.
”
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Well done! You have a degree that is a truly personal
achievement and declares you a high level problem
solver and trouble shooter. Do at least one postdoctoral job that will really embed your skills and
independence. Try to get a job in an area that really
interests you and with a lab that has a vibrant
atmosphere. Then decide whether you want to stay in
academia – only do this if you are really committed to
the discipline. Otherwise, the world is your oyster:
there are interesting jobs in industry, banks, law,
schools, media, and the city.
I am a council member for the Society of Academic
and Research Surgery and I am very interested in the
intercalation of clinical training with a graduate
degree. I have “served time” on various parents’
committees at schools. I find it interesting to be
involved in education at this level and I hope my
contributions are helpful, whether I discuss
educational objectives and transferable skills, or I sell
cakes. I am quite passionate about dissemination of
science to the public and have lectured at open
university and schools – talking to five year olds on
“genes for jeans” day involved different coloured
strings tied together to represent different genes in the
DNA and was unforgettable! What I find quite
challenging is lecturing in Greek, to public groups, on
scientific matters (like the causes of various cancers).
Although this is my first language, all my training (from
my undergraduate studies onwards) has been in
English; translation can be demanding, not only just
the specific terms but also for “placing in context”. I
am not very good at keeping life-work balance and I
do not know many people who are! I try to set aside
blocks of time where family life is a priority –for
example, a couple of evenings per week and part of
the weekend, when I spend time with my husband and
teenage son.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I am lucky to have a job that I find so very interesting
and I am privileged to work with some amazing
colleagues and first class students. I get a huge buzz
from doing translational research that has real
potential for clinical applications; finding out whether
an off-the-wall experiment worked; getting
unexpected, exciting results that offer new
possibilities; and in meetings when discussing how to
take research forward, when it all comes together the
group energy is amazing.
During teaching, those golden moments during one of
my lectures when I look into students’ eyes and I know
they “get” it (but then, UCL students are great); and
watching/enabling students and junior colleagues to
progress in their own careers. And when there are
problems, plain mulish stubbornness drives me,
because “things have to work”.
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NEIL
MARLOW
PROFESSOR OF NEONATAL
MEDICINE
Institute for Women's Health
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
During my 16 years career so far I have worked
both in academia and the healthcare service. I
can reasonably claim to have rubbed
shoulders with many high ranking people who
held very responsible jobs in addition to
pursuing busy research careers. Yet I cannot
say I have met any who could carry this
professional ‘burden’ with as much
graciousness as Professor Neil Marlow does. I
think he is inspirational at many levels as a line
manager, a research leader, a colleague, and a
person. I have witnessed first-hand how he can
catalyse other researchers and engage their
minds, harnessing the very best that each can
offer in their own specialty. Equally he is able to
command great loyalty from his staff at all
levels and he, in turn, never fails to
acknowledge someone’s contribution to the
work at hand no matter how small. He
encourages staff to grow and prosper in their
role, offering support and making time for their
professional training.
Despite the enormous demands on his time, he
remains a very hands on leader who follows
personally the developments in the projects he
leads, delegating only when he is satisfied his
standards will be met. Some people never need
to assert their authority and I think Professor
Marlow he is amongst these lucky few. This
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leaves plenty of room for the person within and
his great sense of humour. He enjoys very close
ties with his very supportive family; he has a
great sense of aesthetics, a fine appreciation of
nature through his love of photography, a
passion for music, fine foods and travel amongst
others, striking that wonderful balance between
his professional and personal lives. Professor
Marlow is inspirational because he shows us it
can be done: one can reach professional
excellence, be very family oriented and remain
human and able to connect with, motivate and
inspire others.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am really delighted to have been nominated – it is a
really great honour and provides great confidence that
will inspire me to continue in this vein.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
Following a conventional training in new-born medicine
I was first a Senior Lecturer in Bristol where I ran the
busy NICU alongside trying to develop a research
portfolio. I moved to Nottingham to a personal chair in
1997 and continued this development working with
national and local cohorts and encouraging NICU
based research. I moved to UCL in 2008 to
consolidate these activities and expand my horizons.
I started as a student who was always ambiguous
about clinical medicine and inspired by research and I
have been lucky to find my niche. I was offered a
research post without a job description as a trainee and
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Seeing many of the issues I have researched
come into clinical practice is deeply motivating to
do more. Keeping a group of young researchers
focused is likewise highly motivating as one is
responsible too for nurturing this family.
welcomed it with both hands. Since then I have
developed an area of clinical research that has always
interested me and sought skills in disciplines not
directly related to new-born medicine. I also encourage
others to do the same and to work across different
traditional boundaries – in psychology, imaging, and
respiratory medicine – to name a few. This brings
breadth to research and encourages collaboration.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
I suspect the greatest high was being awarded the
Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences as this
indicated that my career had been taken seriously by
my peers, rivalled by being asked to take up the chair
here at UCL where I was inspired as a medical student.
I am lucky to have had several ‘highs’ – particularly
when the New England Journal of Medicine said yes to
my first big original paper in 2000!
My lows have related to a failure to inspire individuals
in other disciplines to work with us in trying to solve
the problems faced by ex-premature children as
they grow up. Probably that I was unable to interest
high flying individuals in broadening their horizons
but over recent years this trend has been reversed
leading to some really interesting collaborations
and developments.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
I hope that these discussions start when they start
their PhD but I would encourage everyone who has
spent so much time working at research to consider
carefully a research career, difficult though it may be,
”
as the long term rewards are really worth having – in
terms of personal satisfaction and sense of pride at
being able to contribute to human knowledge. I think
the pathway is often not made easy as the hard steps
have to be taken when life is most difficult in terms of
developing relationships or families but my advice is to
look beyond that at what you can achieve. Big
developments are now rare but important bricks can
still be put into the wall of knowledge and most
importantly if we set our mind to it we can make a
difference in the world in which we work, no one can
ask to do more.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Motivation comes from within, keeping your thirst for
knowledge and interest in broadening your horizons.
Many good researchers wander off into admin roles –
something I have done but also have been careful not
to let them dominate my career focus on research
activity. Seeing many of the issues I have researched
come into clinical practice is deeply motivating to do
more. Keeping a group of young researchers focused
is likewise highly motivating as one is responsible too
for nurturing this family.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
One reason I moved to UCL was to be able to use
more effectively the fantastic artistic environment in
central London. I often make last minute bookings to
concerts and plays which allow me to broaden my
horizons. At home I am a member of the Ramblers
Association and the RSPB – giving us many activities
to really enjoy locally and further afield – even better if
there is a good restaurant there too!
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EAMON
MCCRORY
READER, CLINICAL,
EDUCATIONAL & HEALTH
PSYCHOLOGY
Division of Psychology &
Language Sciences
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Eamon McCrory has so many different
qualities as an academic role model. He is a
fantastic teacher, who is able to present
complex ideas in a clear way, helping the
student to see the significance of his thoughts
and to share in his expertise. As a researcher
he has built up a group contributing to our
understanding of the impact of maltreatment
on brain development, translating his findings
as a clinician in a way that can make a real
difference to the welfare of vulnerable young
people. He has also been responsible for the
development of a suite of MSc programmes
(four at the last count). As someone who has
benefitted from his support, I can vouch for the
way in which his clarity of thinking and
organisational skills had made it possible to
take on a big task whilst feeling extremely well
held and supported. When needed Eamon can
make tough decisions and is able to hold his
own ground; but he also gives space to others
to develop their own creativity and autonomy,
and is extremely generous in the way he
supports others. As an academic role model,
Eamon not only has impressive individual skills,
but also has the capacity to work with others
and to bring the best out of those around him whether students or professional colleagues.
He is a huge asset to UCL.
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WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I feel humbled and honoured. Working life often feels
like a complicated juggling act of clinical, teaching
and research responsibilities, and it is all too easy to
focus on those things that are going wrong or need
fixing. This has been an opportunity to step back and
appreciate that something must be going well!
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
As a child I had a love of biology, but as my education
progressed I became increasingly fascinated by the
links between mind and brain. The Natural Sciences
Tripos at Cambridge allowed me to bring together
biology, philosophy and psychology within an
experimental framework. Rather fortuitously, this
seemingly eclectic set of interests formed the ideal
foundation for the newly emerging field of cognitive
neuroscience in the mid-nineties. After graduating, I
took up a research assistant post with Uta Frith and
Cathy Price as part of an imaging project
investigating cross-cultural differences in dyslexia. It
was a dynamic and exciting time when the Functional
Imaging Laboratory (FIL) and Institute of Cognitive
Neuroscience in Queen Square were just opening
their doors.
After this project, I stayed with Uta and Cathy who
supervised my PhD; they were (and continue to be!)
incredible role-models with an exceptional ability to
inspire and challenge in equal measure. However, as I
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Don’t be driven simply by money or short term
goals – their allure quickly fades. If you take on
roles or pursue research that genuinely engages
and challenges you, motivation will follow naturally.
reached the end of my PhD I was having doubts about
pursuing an exclusively research-focused career and
was increasingly drawn to the practical application of
psychology. I was lucky to be accepted onto the
Institute of Psychiatry doctoral training in Clinical
Psychology, which only increased my curiosity about
the root causes of mental health problems.
My first jobs were working with adults using Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and at the same time in the
NSPCC with children who had experienced
maltreatment. I couldn’t help but be struck about how
early adversity can shape so much of our sense of
selves and the world, and set seeds for later
unhappiness into adulthood. And yet the real puzzle is
that for some people, early adversity is a challenge
that acts as a spur to later success. Why such different
outcomes? The paucity of brain imaging research in
this area was something I found to be an extraordinary
gap in our attempts to address this question.
In 2006 I returned to UCL to set up a new MSc in
Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology at
UCL, in collaboration with Yale University. The timing
could not have been more perfect, as Essi Viding had
just started at UCL as a new lecturer. We had known
each other years previously at the ICN when I was
doing my PhD. I didn’t have an office at UCL and
would camp out at her spare desk. In a matter of
months (after many cups of coffee) we hatched grand
plans for the future, and eventually the Developmental
Risk and Resilience Unit was born – even though at
that moment in time, we were it! Since then we have
built a dynamic team of post-docs, research support
staff and students; it feels like an extraordinary luxury
to doing something you feel passionate about.
”
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
I now oversee four UCL MSc programmes and several
diplomas, all focused on child development. It has
been very satisfying to be involved in conceiving two
of these from scratch with a group of talented and
experienced colleagues at UCL, Yale and at the Anna
Freud Centre. Working with good people is what
makes the difference in terms of job satisfaction.
Securing my first grant to use brain imaging to
investigate the impact of maltreatment was also a
huge high – and crucial in realising my research goals.
Lows? Two years after clinical training I had a mixture
of childcare responsibilities and a busy part-time
clinical job – that was a tough time. At that point my
PhD peers were speeding ahead in their academic
careers as were my university friends. After a decade
of learning and training - on very little salary - I was
beginning to question if I needed to completely rethink
what I was doing and move into the commercial sector.
It took patience and nerve to hold out. I managed over
time to take on three posts that brought together my
clinical, research and teaching skills. This was
challenging, but Peter Fonagy our Head of
Department provides huge opportunities to be
creative if you wish to take them, and I am incredibly
grateful for that.
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WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
For those students interested in pursuing clinical
psychology after a PhD I would advise being
realistic...and patient. Training programmes are heavily
oversubscribed and you need to build up a diverse
portfolio of clinical experiences – ideally you should
be doing this during your doctorate. This is much
easier said than done, as relevant experiences are
difficult to secure. If you wish to develop skills in
clinical practice and research, patience is essential –
you will be studying and training for all of your
twenties! But over the long term the reward is a
stimulating and diverse career.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Don’t be driven simply by money or short term goals –
their allure quickly fades. If you take on roles or pursue
research that genuinely engages and challenges you,
motivation will follow naturally. Do what you do to the
best of your ability – you will be rewarded by the
satisfaction of doing a good job. I also sit down and
plan at the start of the year – make strategic goals.
Review them and from time to time step back and
keep the bigger picture in view.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
A busy life outside work is an essential ingredient to
your career success. I enjoy going out in London every
week – there is so much to discover, fantastic
restaurants, theatre and opera. Funny what you begin
to enjoy as you get older! Also, I could not live without
the gym – a great way to de-stress.
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NEIL
MILLAR
PROFESSOR OF MOLECULAR
PHARMACOLOGY
Division of Biosciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Neil has the ability to keep a team
motivated. He is supportive but has the
appropriate distance to encourage yet not
encroach on members of his team’s work. He
manages to keep up with the recent scientific
literature. He's knowledgeable and has
creative ideas for how to take projects forward.
He has good leadership skills and a ‘common
sense approach’ to work. Throughout my time
of working with him he has had a strong work
ethic but has also maintained time for his family
and social interests. Neil is a good role model;
he works hard and is a confident speaker at
conferences and when giving lectures, where
his enthusiasm shines through. He gets the job
done quietly and confidently.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I’m flattered (and rather surprised).
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
After a BSc in biochemistry and a PhD in molecular
virology, I became interested in neuroscience. This
interest led to postdoctoral research positions at Yale
University and then Cambridge University, after which I
was appointed to an independent position at UCL in
1993, as a Wellcome Senior Research Fellow. Over the
years at UCL I was promoted to Lecturer, Senior
Lecturer, Reader and, in 2007, I was appointed as
Professor of Molecular Pharmacology. More recently, I
have taken on various roles at UCL. I’m currently ViceDean in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Acting
Director of the Division of Biosciences.
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“
I can think of very few careers that I would have
enjoyed more than that of an academic scientist.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The more transient highs and lows have tended to
be associated with funding decisions relating to
research grant applications and editorial decisions on
papers submitted to scientific journals. The longerlasting highs relate to the excitement that is associated
with novel research discoveries and the friendships
that have developed through working on various
research projects.
”
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Scientific research is driven by curiosity and I’m
still curious.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I enjoy listening to music - frequently Bob Dylan (but,
this week, mainly Wilko Johnson).
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
I can think of very few careers that I would have
enjoyed more than that of an academic scientist.
However, I would be cautious in advising a PhD
student about career choices, other than to encourage
them to consider all of the many options that they still
have before them. There is a tendency amongst some
university academics to see an academic career as
being the only honourable and true path for a PhD
student, but this is nonsense. However, if a PhD
student has enjoyed doing research, I would certainly
encourage them to consider a postdoctoral research
position (perhaps in a different scientific field and,
perhaps, in another country) before making longerterm career decisions. Who knows what the future may
bring but hopefully it will be enjoyable.
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HUGH
MONTGOMERY
CHAIR OF INTENSIVE CARE
MEDICINE
Division of Medicine
Faculty of Medical Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Hugh Montgomery is an inspiring figure. A
polymath with a wide range of interests outside
medicine, such as quantum physics, scuba
diving and archaeology, notwithstanding his
writing of novels and films. Despite this, and
his significant academic achievements in the
fields of cardiovascular medicine, genetics,
mitochondrial biology, intensive care,
orthopaedics, hepatobiliary surgery and sports
medicine, he remains genuinely curious, and a
believer in the best in people. His bedside
rapport with patients and staff is real and
warm, and is seen in his interactions at all levels,
he’d treat a porter, a student, a nurse or a
colleague with the same respect and courtesy,
even in disagreement. Despite the fact that his
optimism and willingness to help has caused
him occasional difficulty, he has continued
unfazed, this being his outlook on life.
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Hugh has been unusual in his openness in
discussing the bad decisions he has made, his
mistakes and regrets, allowing his fellows
much insight into academia, and acting as a
mentor. He accepts that his path is not
everyone’s, and seeks to help people along
their own path. Finally it is unusual to have a
prolonged conversation with him without the
subject of children (either his own or his
fellows’). Family plays a large part in his
decision making and he regrets that they don’t
play enough. He works on ensuring his juniors
lead a more balanced life, the most frequent
complaint from the fellows’ partners is that
work seems to be too much fun.
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“
”
Finally, good data are hugely motivating, as
is the wish to communicate them. I still find
a new insight hugely exciting, and can't wait
to tell everyone.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I’m seriously flattered, and somewhat surprised. I’m
sure that most responsible adults would rather their
children follow the safe, secure and well-trodden path.
Suggesting that I should be a role-model is tantamount
to proposing a similar role for the Sex Pistols to an
aspiring virtuoso.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I never really managed to stick to a ‘path’.
I was extraordinarily lucky in meeting inspirational
people along the way, whose enthusiasm infected. I
loved physiology and was ‘told’ by the then professor
of physiology (Eric Neale) that I was doing a degree
with him. It wasn’t an invitation. It was he who forced
me to question, and opened my eyes to the fact that
much (if not most!), still wasn’t known in any field.
I did my house jobs and SHO years, thinking that I was
to be a cardiologist. However, time at the Hammersmith
opened my eyes to Intensive Care, and Chris Haslett
took me aside and offered advice. I think he could see
that I’d make a useless clinician if based in outpatients,
and he guided me to think about an ICU career.
I then decided to go to Africa. I was strongly advised
that this would be the end of my career in medicine: it
was a sign of 'lack of commitment'. Evident nonsense.
However, I DID get excellent advice: to try to find a
post to which to return. I met with John Camm at St
George's, and explained that his was the only
cardiology rotation I wanted... and flew back for the
interview. I was successful. The time in South Africa
was just wonderful, however. I very strongly believe
that others should be allowed and indeed encouraged
to work abroad in this way.
An 18 month spell as a general medical Registrar
followed and boy was that fun! I just loved being in
casualty, and working with a team. Then a year in
cardiology, before a spell of research with Jean
McEwan at UCL. At the time, I viewed this as a rite of
passage, a necessary interlude to progress my career.
But Jean encouraged and, with Derek Yellon (in whose
lab I was placed) allowed me the space to 'plough my
own furrow'. This is so very important, in my view.
I had some ‘genetic’ ideas, and Steve Humphries took
me under his wing, supporting my academic career.
Others did likewise: Monty Mythen funded me when I
failed to obtain grant funding, and successive
professors and Deans did likewise.
My path was stormy, and others were probably as
traumatised as I was. I needed to accredit in
cardiology… but also to train in ICU… as well as
general medicine. There was no structure for that at
all... let alone for supporting a developing academic
career. But there WAS support from scientists and
from clinicians, many who backed me when their lives
would have been far easier had they not.
Reading what I have just written, it becomes clear to
me that I owe everything to people who have picked me
up along the way, without ever being asked to do so.
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WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Highs? Oddly enough, they have all been the ‘eureka’
moments. The time when you suddenly and
instinctively understand something which no-one has
understood before. Fortunately, surrounded by bright
enthusiasts, these moments haven’t yet dried up.
I am fortunate in that I find it hard to distinguish work
from play (with the sole exception of administration
which I am shockingly bad at, and loathe. Thank
heavens for the saints in the Department of Medicine,
and Research and Development, who have been
prepared to put up with me!)
Lows? Facing unemployment comes pretty high on
the list: the ‘big grant’ failed on the day before my
first son was born. Bad timing. But then you find out
who your mates are, as they step up to the mark and
look after you.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Just do it! It’s like cabbage as a child: eat it first, and
the cake follows.
Then, recognise the opportunity you have. You’ve
got your driving licence. Now the open road is yours.
You should fill your car with passengers you like, and
go exploring!
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
The first rule is to avoid negative people. Their misery
infects like plague.
The second is to surround oneself with capable
enthusiasts who question and are open for finding that
all they once thought true is wrong. In general, I also
like the sociable. The most important work at
conferences is over breakfast, in the coffee shop, or in
the bar. There’s a reason for that.
Finally, good data are hugely motivating, as is the wish
to communicate them. I still find a new insight hugely
exciting, and can’t wait to tell everyone.
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I am passionate about environmental degradation and
its impact on people. Luckily, UCL actively supports
cross-disciplinary work, and I do much of this in my
‘spare hours’.
I did become concerned that all I did was work, so
earlier this year I booked into two evening courses.
The first was on Particle Physics. The second was on
close magic. I’m now torturing a guitar, and
researching my fifth novel, a thriller this time.
My wife has a new job in Birmingham, so I now work in
London during the week and commute up ‘home’ at
weekends. I thus do no work (unless on call) at
weekends, which are spent (with huge joy) with my
utterly fabulous children and (as you’ll have guessed,
very tolerant) wife!
page 81
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 82
ANTONELLA
RICCIO
READER IN MOLECULAR
NEUROBIOLOGY
MRC Laboratory for Molecular
Cell Biology
Faculty of Life Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Antonella is a world-leading authority and
researcher working at the cutting edge of
molecular neurobiology and epigenetics. She
provides an excellent academic role model
through her dedication to science, her
ambition, and her desire to take on ambitious
and important research problems. She sets
very high standards for herself and her
colleagues, and through this provides excellent
training and mentorship that generate rewards
through high profile publications, success in
grant applications, and invitations to leading
meetings. This combination of being driven
scientifically together with a remarkable
technical ability has enabled Antonella to
attract a group of young, very smart and
energetic researchers that together generate
an exciting environment in which to work.
Colleagues at UCL, and increasingly on
national and international stages, hold the work
of her laboratory in high regard. Antonella
achieves this as a woman and mother in
science. She is an excellent example of how it
is possible for women to have ambitious and
successful research careers, while also having
a fully committed family life.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I was honoured that my colleagues nominated me. I
love science and I find it extremely rewarding that my
experience in academia may encourage others to
follow this career path.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I started Medical School at Catholic University in
Rome when I was still very young and idealistic, just to
realise that I had no particular inclination for clinical
work. Luckily for me, I met early on Professor Giorgio
Macchi, an extraordinary neurologist who encouraged
me to follow my passion for neuroscience. However, I
had no patience for the Byzantine ways of Italian
academia and after obtaining my medical degree, I
decided to complete my graduate training at Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore,
USA in the laboratory of Professor David Ginty. I was
in Baltimore for eight years and enjoyed my time there
immensely. In 2005, I moved to UCL to the MRC
Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology and I have been
here since then.
page 83
“
”
Learning new things in any form or shape is my
true passion, and what motivates most of my
everyday choices.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Joining the Department of Neuroscience at Hopkins
was a life-changing experience. I remember the first
day in the lab, feeling extraordinarily excited and at the
same time quite overwhelmed by the sheer range of
opportunities that the place was about to offer me.
Starting my lab was also a wonderful experience, as I
always enjoyed supervising junior colleagues. I love
when a student or a postdoc comes up with their first
truly creative experiment, it is like a child learning to
walk and hopefully, getting ready to run. And the
recognition of your peers of course, a paper or a
grant application that receives great reviews, a talk at
a meeting that goes particularly well.
To follow their instinct without worrying about the
competition and the difficulties related to becoming a
scientist. There are lot of opportunities for brilliant and
motivated young people in science and more
specifically, in academia.
There are also lows obviously. Sometime great
projects turn out to be, well, not that great and I
always feel responsible for not providing the people in
my lab with the best possible chance to succeed. It is
still difficult for women to be assertive and truly
ambitious in science. Often research goals that are
considered positively challenging for a man, suddenly
become “too ambitious” for a woman. I always joke
that the best reviews that I ever received were the
ones where the reviewers referred to me as a “he”
because they were unaware of my gender (and
actually, it is not a joke).
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I do not do much really but sometimes a break from
the lab helps. I left Italy many years ago and although I
have been happy in the USA and here, sometimes I
need to immerse myself in the sheer beauty of my
native country.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I spend time with my family of course. I have a 6 year
old daughter and my husband is a scientist as well, so
we both try very hard to get a good balance between
home and work. I love indie rock and punk music, and
I try to go to as many gigs as I can. I like listening to
new bands and for this, there is no better place than
London. I have a very busy life and travel frequently
both for work and pleasure, but I don’t go anywhere
without a book. Learning new things in any form or
shape is my true passion, and what motivates most of
my everyday choices.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 84
MIKE
ROWSON
SENIOR TEACHING
FELLOW
Institute for Global Health
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Mike Rowson is an excellent role model for
those interested in pursuing a career in
teaching. He has a real passion for addressing
global health issues and improving pedagogy,
which he has achieved in his role as Senior
Teaching Fellow responsible for the strategic
development of the Institute for Global Health’s
education activities. He led the successful
redevelopment of UCL’s MSc in Global Health
& Development to offer an innovative
curriculum with multi-disciplinary teaching from
several UCL faculties, leading to a significant
increase in student numbers. In addition Mike
has helped to expand one of UCL’s most
popular intercalated BScs (Global Health), and
has a strong commitment to increasing global
health teaching to medical students.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Delighted! It’s really nice to feel appreciated by other
colleagues – but I’m lucky to work with a number of
good people who just as much deserve nomination.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I worked in the NGO sector for 10 years, and ended
up running a small health charity called Medact which
undertakes education and lobbying on global health
issues. Part of my role there was to engage medical
students with a global agenda, and I worked with
Professor John Yudkin at UCL who was setting up the
UK’s first BSc in Global Health, and helped teach on
the degree. I came to work full-time at UCL in 2007
when, with Professors Anthony Costello and Therese
Hesketh, we expanded the global health courses here.
page 85
“
I’m lucky to be involved in an area where the
complexity and politics keep me constantly engaged
and motivated. And, although it sounds cheesy, I’m
motivated by the continual discussions I have with
students. It’s a great privilege to teach them.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
I have been quite astonished with how interested
medical students are in global health. There are global
health student groups in 28 UK medical schools and a
number of other BScs. Hundreds attend student
conferences on global health. I’m proud to be a patron
of the national student organisation, Medsin, which
has made this growth possible. I’m also very
interested, as a non-health professional, in seeing
larger numbers of people with a greater diversity of
disciplinary backgrounds active in the global health
field. I think the popularity of our MSc Global Health
and Development shows the importance of taking a
broad-based approach to global health. As someone
formerly active in trying to influence policy, I became
very concerned that a biomedical approach and
training does not help policy development in this field,
because global health is about so many things than
‘better medicine’.
”
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I’m lucky to be involved in an area where the
complexity and politics keep me constantly engaged
and motivated. And, although it sounds cheesy, I’m
motivated by the continual discussions I have with
students. It’s a great privilege to teach them. And from
another professional perspective I enjoy the strategic
and planning aspects to my job.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I’m a general culture-vulture, so you’ll catch me
reading books and looking at paintings and, more
rarely these days, playing the piano.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
I have avoided doing a PhD. I think academia could
benefit from giving more flexibility and recognition to
people who don’t have standard (research)
qualifications. We have things to add which should be
equally valued by the university. In the final analysis a
team of different, but equal, skills is needed to
produce good outcomes for students.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 86
CHRISTIANA
RUHRBERG
PROFESSOR OF NEURONAL
AND VASCULAR
DEVELOPMENT
Institute of Ophthalmology
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Christiana Ruhrberg is Professor of Neuronal
and Vascular Development in the Institute of
Ophthalmology. She is an outstanding scientist
who studies the molecules which control blood
vessel growth and how blood vessels form
without disrupting the other cells in the tissue
they are growing into. She has pioneered the
use of genetic techniques to study these
issues, and attained recognition from an early
stage with the award of the British Society for
Cell Biology Prize for Young Cell Biologist of
the Year (1996), the Werner-Risau Prize for
outstanding contributions to endothelial cell
biology from the German Society for Cell
Biology (2003), a Career Development Award
from the MRC (2007) and most recently a
Wellcome Trust Investigator Award (2011).
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I feel very honoured to be deemed worthy of this
nomination. At first I was unaware of the reasons for
my nomination and wondered why, in a place as
packed with eminent scientists as UCL, I was
considered. After my initial surprise, I learnt of the
reasons why I was nominated. This prompted me to
reflect on my gratitude for past and present mentors
as well as the colleagues who supported me
throughout my career. I hope that I can support others
in a similar fashion.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
After two short lab experiences, my research career
took off when I joined Fiona Watt’s lab at the Imperial
Cancer Research Fund (ICRF), now known as the
London Research Institute of Cancer Research UK.
Fiona gave me the freedom to explore a new line of
investigation in her team, allowing me to work
independently towards my PhD. She was a superb
mentor, teaching me a critical approach to data
analysis that was combined with great enthusiasm for
every new finding we made. After obtaining my PhD, I
trained in Robb Krumlauf’s lab at the National Institute
for Medical Research, where I acquired the
developmental biology expertise that I have used
since on a daily basis. Similar to Fiona, Robb gave his
trainees plenty of freedom to pursue their own
research, but at the same time provided inspiration
and invaluable advice on how to achieve a successful
research career. When Robb left the UK for the US to
head The Stowers Institute, I re-joined ICRF to apply
my developmental neurobiology expertise to study
blood vessel growth in the newly established
laboratory of David Shima. This research seeded my
current research focus, underpinned by a generous
endowment when David also moved to the US – I
inherited the lab’s knockout mouse colony. Funded by
an MRC Career Development Award and supported
by John Greenwood at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology,
I started up my own research team in SLMS in 2003.
Since then, I have been promoted to Lecturer and then
Reader, and I am now a Professor at the Institute,
where I very much enjoy being part of a flourishing
multi-disciplinary research community that has close
ties to clinicians at Moorefield’s Eye Hospital.
page 87
“
”
I enjoy having a stimulating and ever-changing job
that strives to advance scientific knowledge and
benefit human healthcare.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
The low point of my career was at the beginning.
Having had several inspiring and motivating teachers
at secondary school, some of my University
supervisors made a career in science appear a
difficult challenge. For example, I failed to get support
from a course tutor for a scholarship at University – he
argued that investing time and money in women is
ultimately wasted, as they will have babies and
therefore give up their science careers. In the first two
lab environments after graduating, I experienced
different facets of the same type of discriminatory
attitude. However, these negative experiences turned
out to be beneficial in the long run, as they endowed
me with the resilience necessary to deal with the ups
and downs of experimental enquiry and the ability to
focus positively on the future. Fortunately, both sexes
have worked hard together over the last 15 years to
bring about real and positive change for British women
in science, and I feel that the types of hurdles I had to
overcome early in my career are rare in the UK
nowadays. Thankfully, after a difficult start, I have since
had many happy and rewarding experiences, such as
seeing my students and postdocs forge successful
careers for themselves. The greatest excitement,
however, has always been to understand an important
new detail of a biological process for the first time,
and the realisation that, on occasion, such a discovery
may turn out to be direction setting.
I recommend that students approaching the end
of their PhD training should seriously consider
changing field to broaden their research expertise
and knowledge base. Such change will reap benefits
at later career stages, when one has to identify
a novel research niche that is likely to secure
research funding.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I enjoy having a stimulating and ever-changing job that
strives to advance scientific knowledge and benefit
human healthcare. On a daily level, I cherish sharing
new ideas and planning experiments with students,
postdocs and colleagues, and I particularly enjoy
explaining to my children how their bodies work.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I spend as much time as possible with my family, but
try to fit in some exercise, too. Swimming, cycling and
the occasional (table) tennis match feature high on the
list of our favourite activities, although I don’t excel at
any of them! When things get too much, I escape to
the local gym, watch a funny movie or escape into one
of my son’s adventure books.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 88
SOPHIE
SCOTT
PROFESSOR OF COGNITIVE
NEUROSCIENCE
Division of Psychology &
Language Sciences
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Sophie has been a leading authority on the
neurobiology of human vocal communication for
over a decade, publishing widely and holding
major research awards. Amidst these personal
accolades, she makes the career progression of
her fellows her personal concern and goes to
great lengths to ensure that they can achieve
their goals. Sophie is truly passionate about
sharing her expertise and ideas with as many
people as possible, making numerous
contributions to science programmes on radio
and TV, maintaining a lively blog on current
topics in speech neuroscience, and educating
and entertaining 3,487 (at last count!) followers
on Twitter. Accessibility is one of Sophie’s
defining characteristics in the workplace – from
the prospective student, to the artist interested in
collaboration, or the inspired Twitter follower,
Sophie will make time to meet and offer advice.
She is a role model for scientists and nonscientists alike, and is an inspiration to women,
not just for her remarkable academic
achievements but also because she has
maintained and enhanced her position as a
world leader in cognitive neuroscience while
caring for a young family. Above all, Sophie is a
fantastic role model because her brilliance is not
diminished by self-importance or loftiness. She is
an excellent scientist, a sincere mentor and a
wonderful ambassador for UCL.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am absolutely delighted. I am incredibly proud to be
a Wellcome Fellow, and to be a Chair at UCL, and I’ve
had the immense honour to work with fantastic postand pre-doctoral researchers. I am even more
delighted to learn that I can have a positive influence
on other people’s experience of science and working
in research. Role models have been incredibly
important to me in my career, both in general and
specific ways. I really think that to have a diversity of
potential role models is extremely important to
researchers at many different stages in their careers.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
It took me a while to discover psychology, which I
came across in the course of a biology degree. I
changed onto a psychology degree, and then did a
PhD in Cognitive Science at UCL. I know now that I
was fortunate to be involved in both biological and
computational approaches to investigating human
behaviour, as these meet up in the area of cognitive
neuroscience. I was a post-doctoral researcher at the
MRC Applied Psychology Unit (now the MRC CBU)
which combined an extraordinary fertile research
environment with tremendous freedom to get involved
in a range of research. I moved back to UCL after 5
years, to work with Professor Paul Burgess at the
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, and I started
applying for my own grants. I was awarded a Career
Development Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust two
years later, which enabled me to start my own
research group, looking into the neurobiology of
human vocal communication. I’ve been funded by the
page 89
“
I find human vocal behaviour – from speech to song
to laughter to beat boxing – absolutely fascinating
and the techniques we have now mean that we can
investigate their neural underpinnings in incredible
detail. And there is always more to know!
Wellcome Trust since then, more recently as part of the
Senior Fellowship scheme. Ten research fellows and
seven PhD students and a Fulbright Scholar are or have
been in my lab, in addition to MSc and BSc students.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
Three tremendous highs involved getting my funding
from the Wellcome Trust, and another was being
promoted to chair in the week that my son was due to
be born! I was also very pleased to be elected as a
Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences this year. I
like to get involved in public engagement work, and so
another high was my very successful Summer Science
Exhibition at the Royal Society in July 2012. The only
real low was towards the end of my PhD, when I was
finding it very difficult to get job interviews. However
the outcome was excellent, as another high point was
getting my first post-doc job at the MRC Applied
Psychology Unit. Another high point was that my first
published paper was in Nature, though I haven’t
managed to repeat this especially quickly!
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PHD?
First, it’s really easy to get so focused on your PhD that
you may not realise the wide range of skills you have
developed over the course of your studies. Taking a
wider perspective on your abilities will help you see
what the next step should be, after your studies.
Second, that first job after your PhD can be incredibly
important, so take the process seriously. If in doubt
about a position, don’t be afraid to ask someone (not
necessarily your supervisor). Academia is not always
”
good at providing structured systems for mentoring
people, so don’t be afraid to make your own – in my
experience, colleagues are happy to give advice.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I genuinely think I have the best job in the world. I find
human vocal behaviour – from speech to song to
laughter to beat boxing – absolutely fascinating and
the techniques we have now mean that we can
investigate their neural underpinnings in incredible
detail. And there is always more to know! I find writing
theoretical papers is a great way of elaborating upon
potential new research areas, and of finding a way of
articulating my perspective on an area. Collaborations
– both with fellow scientists and non-scientists (such
as actors, theatre directors) - have also been
extremely good sources of motivation, and I find a
good collaborative relationship really can deliver work
which reflects more than the sum of its parts. I also
find public engagement work really motivating: it is
very rewarding to find that people are interested in
what you do, especially if you can find ways of
showing them how science can help us understand
issues in quite unexpected ways.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I love stand-up comedy, both watching it and
performing it. UCL’s Public Engagement Unit runs
Bright Club, where academics have the opportunity to
present their work in a stand-up comedy format, and I
can honestly say that doing stand-up comedy has
been a revelation for me. I really enjoy writing and
performing comedy sets, and I think it’s made my
teaching and research talks better as well.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 90
ALEXANDER
SEIFALIAN
PROFESSOR OF
NANOTECHNOLOGY &
REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
Division of Surgery &
Interventional Science
Faculty of Medical Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Professor Alex Seifalian is one of the most
admirable academics I have ever come across.
His revolutionary quest in tissue engineering of
human organs with nanomaterials has not only
inspired me and his current team to be
successful academics but also many young
students to pursue careers in academic or
clinical research. I am constantly inspired and
motivated by his enthusiasm and direction to
establish excellence in all endeavours with
great academic discipline, efficient team
working skills and perseverance and I have
taken him to be my role model as he sets a
prime example of successful leadership where
he executes innovative ideas in a
multidisciplinary team, with hard work and
indefatigable enthusiasm as well as being
genuine and reliable. I am immensely grateful
for the invaluable example he has set of
himself and his passionate dedication to
research and great consideration of his team. I
am most certain for a fact, that my opinion of
Professor Seifalian in the above aspects is also
that of my colleagues, as well as the great
number of previous and current students who
were/are under his direction.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Of course, I am ever so pleased and delighted to read
the comments made by the nominees, who have been
very generous, and hope I can keep up the
momentum!
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
After my first degree, I wanted to do so many things
from working in the field of nuclear physics to
medicine as well as moving in to the financial sector.
However, after spending time in number of universities
in the UK, USA and Sweden, I settled down at UCL
and built up my career in a multidisciplinary role to
improve the outcome of human organ transplantation.
This included scientific research and clinical
applications surrounding the field of liver
transplantation, which led me on to my current role in
the development of organs using nanotechnology and
stem cells. Currently, I head the centre of excellence in
nanotechnology and regenerative medicine with a
team of researchers, and one of the largest groups of
postgraduate students at UCL, all working on research
and development of human organs and cancer
treatments using nanotechnology.
page 91
“
The highest point of my career has been the
successful implantation of human organs,
developed in my laboratory for human use. They
captured the world’s imagination as the first
synthetic trachea, as well as tear ducts and
coronary artery bypass grafts that were recognised
with huge scientific and media interest.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The highest point of my career has been the
successful implantation of human organs, developed
in my laboratory for human use. They captured the
world’s imagination as the first synthetic trachea, as
well as tear ducts and coronary artery bypass grafts
that were recognised with huge scientific and media
interest. I do not think I ever had low points in my
career, I am always positive and pushing forward;
however, battles against administrative paper work and
a heavy work load can sometimes make you feel low!
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
UCL is a global university and anyone graduating from
UCL should think globally, this is in terms of quality of
research, as well as, collaborations with centres of
excellence throughout the world. My advice to PhD
students who are finishing their degree should be to
look for postdoctoral positions, as well as, to
collaborate globally with centres of excellence, or to
select the best biotech companies to join. Most
importantly is networking with people and one should
take the opportunity to do so during conferences and
via email or other media communications, as many
students already collaborate throughout the world.
”
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
My motivation comes from translational research
performed in my laboratory, and in many cases to
reach patients in the clinic through to
commercialisation. This is usually achieved with a
young and bright dynamic research team including
students, who are working continuously to achieve the
same goal as my own.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Sport and music is fun and the most enjoyable
pastime for me is walking in the countryside looking at
nature, as well as the time I spend with my children at
The Natural History Museum. I find nature amazing,
and we could all learn so much by just looking at it in
detail, i.e. the amazing colours of butterfly wings,
which can change colour, and other insects, which use
pungent odours or a change in body condition to
protect themselves. I also love walking on Hampstead
Heath, so Sunday is the time spent with my family
walking, and I usually end up in a local pub afterwards
for a drink (or two).
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 92
GORDON
STEWART
PROFESSOR OF
EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
Division of Medicine
Faculty of Medical Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Professor Stewart has been a linchpin of the
UCL MBPhD programme for a number of years
and as such has the role of fostering the next
generation of academic clinicians. He is a
dedicated and inspirational teacher who
combines interest both in the art of clinical
diagnosis and the academic rigor of lab life.
His often esoteric teaching style mixes humour,
wit and insight in equal measure making him a
unique asset within the UCL Medical School
community.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Suspicion: what do they want out of me this time?
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
After school in Edinburgh, I went to Sussex and
studied Physics. After this I returned to Edinburgh and
studied Medicine at the Medical School there. I liked
general medicine and decided that I wanted to be a
physician. In junior hospital jobs we found a family with
unique and bizarre red blood cells: this family formed
a starting point for a research career in red cells. I
mixed training jobs at Hammersmith and St Marys with
laboratory research at Cambridge and fetched up at
UCL in 1987. A ‘little while’ later, UCL made me a
Professor.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
Highs: finding a new disease; cloning the gene for a
novel protein; being involved in finding the genetic
cause for a series of human diseases. Lows: getting
scooped; those grant rejection letters.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 93
“
Keep a very good lab book. In your prayers at
night, thank the Almighty for word processors.
”
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Keep a very good lab book. In your prayers at night,
thank the Almighty for word processors.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
It’s the ever-stimulating mix of clinical medicine,
teaching and research. And lots and lots of tea.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I retreat to the shed where I make and mend things.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 94
SARAH
TABRIZI
PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL
NEUROLOGY
Institute of Neurology
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Sarah is an outstanding tutor and coach to PhD
students, clinical fellows and colleagues. She
impresses me, my peers and those who are
working with her with her ability to motivate
young scientists, to spark their interests to
undertake research into disease mechanisms
and understanding the importance of
translational research. As a leader of her own
research team, established during her
fellowship, she published a series of
outstanding articles on prion disease and on
Huntington’s Disease (including senior-author
papers in high impact journals such as
Molecular Cell, Lancet Neurology (2009, 2011,
2012), Nature Communications, Journal of
Experimental Medicine, and PNAS).
Her research featured in a review article in The
New England Journal of Medicine, scientific
articles in The Economist, Lancet Neurology,
and Scientific American, and widespread lay
media coverage, underpinning research and
clinical excellence at UCL Institute of
Neurology. Impressed with her positive attitude
to motivating her team, and to successfully
mentor and guide the next generation of
clinicians, scientists and health care
professionals, I recommend her unconditionally
and unreservedly for the nomination as a UCL
role model.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am very honoured to be nominated. Looking after
patients and at the same time trying to do research
both in a lab, and also with patients themselves, in
order to help find treatments for neurodegenerative
diseases, is what has driven me forward. Seeing
patients in clinic always reminds me about why we do
what we do, and when things get tough and
experiments don’t work (which is common) or research
is proving tough, looking after patients helps me get a
perspective. In addition, mentoring has been an
extremely important part of my work. I am motivated
by helping foster the future generations of young
clinicians and researchers and I think my group
represents that. I am also particularly keen on
supporting women in research.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I did a degree in Biochemistry before medicine which
fostered my interest in basic science, and it was clear
to me that I wanted to combine research with being
able to translate the research into patients, hence my
undertaking medical training at Edinburgh University
where I graduated in 1992. I always knew I wanted to
combine clinical practice and research. I wanted to do
neurology even as an undergraduate where
neuroanatomy was my favourite preclinical subject. I
was an SHO on the Hammersmith-Queen Square
rotation, and as an SHO, I worked for Professors Anita
Harding and David Marsden at the National Hospital
for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and they both made
an enormous impression on me. Anita Harding was an
early mentor of mine and she really had a huge
page 95
“
The highs in research come when you get a
breakthrough result, publish a great paper or
when your hypothesis turns out to be validated by
the data. Setting up and looking after patients in
the multidisciplinary HD clinic has also been
immensely rewarding and our clinical service has
grown from seeing only a few patients to being
one of the largest multidisciplinary clinics in the
UK with a large team.
”
influence on me. Unfortunately, she died in 1995 and I
was unable to complete my research programme with
her, but I undertook an MRC Clinical Training
Fellowship PhD between 1996-1999 at UCL with
Anthony Schapira, studying mitochondrial dysfunction
in neurodegeneration. It was during my PhD that I
became motivated by Huntington’s disease (HD). I met
patients with advanced disease during my PhD and
my clinical interest remained a guiding motivation. I
also worked with Gillian Bates from KCL who had just
made the first mouse model of HD and influenced me
greatly at the time; we continue to work closely
together now.
Even before my medical training at Edinburgh
University I knew I wanted to combine clinical practice
and research and after training as a Consultant
Neurologist, I embarked on a 5 year Clinical Scientist
Fellowship to study cellular protein-misfolding in prion
disease as a model of cellular neurodegenerative
diseases, working with Charles Weissmann and John
Collinge. This fellowship enabled me to set up my own
lab and group and I was successful in getting a
number of other grants. At this time in 2003, I also set
up my research programme and multi-disciplinary
clinical service in Huntington’s disease which is
working hard to undertake both basic science and
translational research, all working towards trying to
find therapies for this disorder. I was promoted to
Reader in 2007 and to Professor at UCL in 2009. My
research now incorporates both basic science and
studying patients with Huntington’s disease. While
animal models have given us important insights, we
must not lose sight of the fact that the Huntington’s
disease is a human disease and a broad approach is
vital. I am interested in studying human biology from
the bench to the clinic - from analysing ex vivo human
cultured cells through to direct patient studies - to
better understand brain dysfunction. I am hoping that
with this combined approach, we can understand all
facets of neurodegeneration in Huntington’s disease,
with applicability to other protein misfolding diseases,
in order to help treat these diseases early.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The highs in research come when you get a
breakthrough result, publish a great paper or when
your hypothesis turns out to be validated by the data.
Setting up and looking after patients in the
multidisciplinary HD clinic has also been immensely
rewarding and our clinical service has grown from
seeing only a few patients to being one of the largest
multidisciplinary clinics in the UK with a large team. I
think developing and fostering a large research and
clinical team has been immensely rewarding. I
encourage my team to think independently and
develop their ideas into projects, and find that this
fosters progress and good team work. Combining
active clinical work with basic science and
translational research can be very challenging. In
academia, you are always planning or writing the next
grant application, the next paper and the next
experiment, and juggling that with looking after
patients and managing clinical emergencies can be
exhausting at times. Occasionally my life can feel like a
struggle between these competing demands on my
time, and getting the right balance is important.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 96
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I would say that this is a very exciting time, you should
now have all the scientific grounding you need to move
forward in science. The PhD is a training period that
lets you think creatively, start thinking independently,
answer a research question in a hypothesis-driven way
and develop writing and communication skills. You
need to capitalise on this and think carefully about
your first post-doc post and group, and how it will help
you move on the career trajectory you are focused on.
I also think it is good to identify a mentor, if you can,
who will advise you objectively and from whom you
can ask advice.
In order to be able to do good science, and care for
patients to the best of your ability, it is really important
to have a work-life balance. It is important to take
annual leave, have time when you don’t check your
emails, and have a life outside work. It is an important
part of my life, and family and friends are a big part of
this. I am also an avid reader: my husband, Michael
Nath is a writer and English Lit Academic and I am
always being made to read the classics. Finally, I am a
great advocate of regular exercise and am an
enthusiastic and dedicated (if not particularly good)
runner and I recently took up boxing, which I love!
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
I am motivated mainly by my drive to try and do
research that will somehow contribute to our global
efforts to effectively treat Huntington’s disease. This is
a disease that affects young people with a mean age
onset of 40, and ultimately we want to be able to treat
people, many years before any symptom onset, to
delay disease onset completely or into old age. I’m
motivated by a desire to achieve that goal in my
professional lifetime, alongside my collaborators
across the world. When I see patients in clinic and
witness the devastation that diseases like Huntington’s
disease causes to families, I don’t need any more
motivation. It’s genuinely humbling and it always gives
me a perspective and keeps me motivated. I tend to
be a pretty enthusiastic person so that helps! My
favourite saying is from one of Churchill’s war
speeches – ‘Never, never, never give up’ – I am pretty
tenacious.
SLMS Academic Role Models
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SLMS Academic Role Models
page 98
ESSI
VIDING
PROFESSOR OF
DEVELOPMENTAL
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Division of Psychology &
Language Sciences
Faculty of Brain Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
I have known Essi for 14 years since she was a
research assistant at the Institute of Cognitive
Neuroscience, a position she took up following
her UCL degree. This was followed by a PhD at
the Institute of Psychiatry, KCL and then a
return to UCL as a Lecturer in 2005. As a
colleague over this period I have watched with
incredible admiration how she has been able
to develop and advance a flourishing research
career alongside having two children. Essi is
an outstanding role model for young women
who can see that (rapid) academic success in
the research field and family life are very
possible to combine. Essi was made professor
last year and I imagine that she must surely be
one of the youngest female academics to be
promoted to professor. She has established a
unique position, nationally and internationally,
in her work exploring antisocial behaviour and
psychopathy. These are not stereotypically
‘female’ areas of research interest, and this
makes her contribution all the more refreshing.
She is committed to translating her work to
benefit children and invests much effort in
helping to shape policy where appropriate.
Essi and I now co-direct a research lab
together and I am continually impressed with
the effort and dedication in helping to promote
SLMS Academic Role Models
new talent, in her supervision of PhD and
Postdoctoral students. In this regard she has
an impressive track record of her students
progressing to excellent positions once they
leave UCL. Essi is also actively involved in
mentoring junior female faculty and was
involved in the UCL Psychology’s previous
Athena Swan submission and is also
consulting the current submission.
page 99
“
”
Keep working on topics you are passionate about,
persist despite the inevitable rejections, and pick
your future collaborators carefully.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
I am delighted with the nomination. I hope the
Academic Role Model scheme will encourage
researchers who are starting out and give them useful
pointers for their academic career. It will be
particularly good to read about different career paths
and for people to realise that there is no ‘standard’
way of doing things.
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I completed a BSc at UCL in 1998. I was not entirely
sure whether I wanted to pursue a clinical or research
career and in order to decide, worked as a research
assistant for two years. This job was based at the
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience working with
James Blair and Uta Frith. Unsurprisingly, given the
inspiring research group I was lucky to work in, I got
bitten with the research bug and went on to do an
MRC funded 4-year interdisciplinary PhD (2000-2004)
at the MRC Social, Genetic, and Developmental
Psychiatry Centre, King’s College London. My PhD
work was supervised by Francesca Happe and Jonna
Kuntsi and focused the heterogeneity of conduct
problems using behavioural genetic and
neurocognitive research methods - work that I am
continuing to date. I followed my PhD training with a
one-year ESRC post-doctoral fellowship under the
supervision of Robert Plomin, after which I started as
a lecturer at UCL Psychology and Language Sciences
in 2005. I have been here since then and was
promoted to a reader in 2008 and professor in 2011. I
took six month breaks to have babies in 2007 and
2010 and although combining work and parenting is
an interesting juggle, it is much more easily done in
academia than in many other professions. I have
headed a research group with Dr. Eamon McCrory
since 2006 and we have several talented PhD
students, post docs and research assistants working
with us.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
Highs have definitely been exciting new research
findings that have cropped up along the way. There
have not been any particular lows, although it is
clearly irritating and disappointing when papers or
grants get rejected – an on-going career low for
anyone in academia.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
Keep working on topics you are passionate about,
persist despite the inevitable rejections, and pick your
future collaborators carefully.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
By working on research topics I am passionate about
and collaborating with inspiring people.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
I hang out with my family, go for dinner with my friends,
try to catch the odd concert and art exhibition, and go
to the gym (occasionally).
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 100
MARY
WICKENDEN
SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW
Institute of Child Health
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
Mary has worked tirelessly to develop the skills
of students to disseminate and communicate
their ideas and research, and is committed to
bringing out the best in students. Her
international experience of setting up speech
therapy in Sri Lanka is inspiring to students,
and her teaching experience in low income
countries more generally makes her able to
understand and empathise with students from
overseas. She has kept the disability stream of
research and teaching alive in our department
when it was threatened by cuts and staff
leaving. Her teaching methods are varied and
engaging, and she ensures that students learn
by doing. I have had the pleasure of working
with her, and found her full of innovative ideas
to develop our qualitative research methods
module. In her free time she works for disability
rights, managing a newsletter and organising
symposia. Mary is an excellent role model for
students and for other teaching professionals.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
A generous description and thanks very much!
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
I started out working in the NHS as a speech and
language therapist, and then became involved in
cross cultural and international aspects of disability
through working in India. I developed an interest in
research and teaching while a clinician and hence
moved into academia, initially to teach undergraduate
and post grad SLTs. My particular specialisation was
with young children with severe disabilities. I came to
UCL to work on an innovative project in Sri Lanka
where I lived for 3 years. Increasingly, I became
interested in broader, less clinical aspects of the lives
of disabled children and their families in developing
countries. I therefore switched disciplines, doing an
MSc and PhD in medical/social anthropology. This
gave me a new and different set of skills and
perspectives. My interests now are in social and
cultural aspects of disability, doing participatory
research with children and their families, relationships
between disability and poverty and developing ways
of evaluating community based rehabilitation. I enjoy
both teaching students and doing action focused
research. I am involved in a number of international
research, advocacy and policy groups related to
improving the lives of disabled people, mainly in low
income countries.
page 101
“
”
It’s particularly exciting to find new insights
directly from disabled children and families which
we could not have acquired if we had not done
research directly with them in their own contexts.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
I am a people person, so have always enjoyed working
directly with disabled children, teaching students and
doing participatory research. These three aspects
intersect and complement each other and adding a
theoretical perspective is also interesting. I get a buzz
out of seeing students’ skills develop and from
learning things from disabled children themselves. It’s
particularly exciting to find new insights directly from
children and families which we could not have
acquired if we had not done research directly with
them in their own contexts. I guess the lows are the
interminable fight that we have on our hands to get
disability recognised as a legitimate and important
area of study and concern. It is often overlooked as an
area of research, paralleling the way that disabled
people themselves are often excluded from
mainstream activities! It would be great if a disability
aspect could be included in all major health and
wellbeing focused studies.
If the PhD seems like a mountain, then that’s because
it’s just the start of a more interesting journey! It
should open doors for the development of even more
interesting projects, ideas and opportunities. Hang on
in there!
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Be very proactive in making links with others who have
related interests. Try to keep the highs and lows in
proportion and have fun!
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
Lots of things, mostly outdoors and energetic such as
cycling, camping, sailing, skiing etc. Good to get
some oxygen to feed the overworked brain.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 102
KATHERINE
WOOLF
LECTURER IN MEDICAL
EDUCATION
UCL Medical School
Faculty of Medical Sciences
REASON FOR NOMINATION
I nominated Katherine Woolf because she is a
true all-rounder who has a positive impact on
all those she works with. She has the highest
academic standards – with the potential to
become one of UCL’s outstanding researchers
of the future – and is an insightful, brilliant
teacher who routinely receives excellent
feedback. Katherine is one of the most
supportive and encouraging academics in our
department, she set up a Publish or Perish
group with the express aim of encouraging
and supporting the junior staff in their research
endeavours. Furthermore, she is committed to
equality and fairness in education and society
in general and these values pervade her work.
She is a pleasure to work with and I cannot
think of a more inspiring role model.
SLMS Academic Role Models
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO BEING
NOMINATED?
Pleased and a bit embarrassed!
WHAT HAS YOUR CAREER PATH BEEN?
At school I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study at
university, and did an Art Foundation before applying
for BSc in Psychology. Once I got there I knew I had
made the right choice. I loved exploring humanity from
a scientific perspective, and in my final year was lucky
enough to work with a wonderful group of ‘savants’
with autism and blindness who despite being low on
conventional measures of intelligence had amazing
musical ability. After graduating in 2003, I continued on
the savant project as a research assistant (RA) and
spent the other half of the week working for an MP in
Westminster. I soon realised I wanted to work in
academia not politics and got an RA job at UCL
Medical School. After a break of 6 weeks volunteering
in an orphanage and school in rural India (where I got
my first teaching experience) I started at the medical
school in 2004, and have been there ever since, doing
a PhD in medical education and psychology between
2005 and 2008, and taking up a Lectureship in the
Department in 2009.
page 103
“
The parts of my career I have enjoyed the most
have been brainstorming with students and
colleagues, analysing data and finding exciting
results, and having the freedom to pursue
interesting projects.
”
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE HIGHS (AND THE
LOWS?) OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?
The parts of my career I have enjoyed the most have
been brainstorming with students and colleagues,
analysing data and finding exciting results, and
having the freedom to pursue interesting projects.
The least enjoyable bits have been receiving rejections
from journals or funders, but I have learned to use
useful feedback to come back with a stronger paper
or proposal.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO
PEOPLE FINISHING OFF THEIR PhD?
You are nearly there - just keep writing! Get feedback
on your drafts from colleagues in any academic field,
and get them to ask you questions to prepare for your
viva. If you have time, think about the future. Reflect on
what you have and haven’t enjoyed about doing a PhD,
and talk to as many varied people as possible to help
you decide whether or not you really want a career in
academia. It is not the only option. If you do want it, be
ambitious - make opportunities talk to the people you
want to work with as early as you can to find out about
possible or upcoming post-docs. Finally, get your PhD
professionally proof-read before submitting!
HOW DO YOU KEEP MOTIVATED?
Talking to inspiring colleagues about interesting ideas,
and hoping I will change the way people think or
behave, whether it is through teaching, research or
public engagement.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT
WORKING IN SLMS?
There is always an endless supply of work to do, so I
try really hard to make sure I spend the weekends
doing non-work things, even if it just going out for
dinner or a bike ride with my partner, or having a cup
of tea with my friends. Other things I like doing include
going on holiday (I have just travelled across Asia by
train), tinkering with our narrow boat which keeps
breaking down, volunteering for the housing
cooperative we live in, painting, and playing
keyboards in a karaoke rock band called Someone
Else’s Wedding.
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 104
SLMS Academic Role Models
page 105
CONTACT DETAILS
Role Model
Dr Anita Berlin
Professor
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Professor
Ann Blandford
Dr Petra Boynton
Dr Alan Burns
Dr Francesca Cacucci
Professor
David Colquhoun
Professor Jane Dacre
Division /Institute
Faculty
Email Address
Institute of Epidemiology & Health
Faculty of Population Health Sciences
a.berlin@ucl.ac.uk
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
Faculty of Brain Sciences
s.blakemore@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Engineering Sciences &
Faculty of Brain Sciences
a.blandford@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical Sciences
p.boynton@ucl.ac.uk
Department of Computer Science &
Division of Psychologyand Language
Sciences
UCL Medical School
Institute of Child Health
Division of Psychology & Language
Sciences
Faculty of Population Health Sciences alan.burns@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Brain Sciences
f.cacucci@ucl.ac.uk
Division of Biosciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
d.colquhoun@ucl.ac.uk
UCL Medical School
Faculty of Medical Sciences
j.dacre@ucl.ac.uk
Professor Julie Daniels
Institute of Ophthalmology
Faculty of Brain Sciences
j.daniels@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Anna David
Institute for Women's Health
Division of Psychology & Language
Sciences
Division of Biosciences
Faculty of Population Health Sciences a.david@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Brain Sciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
david.gems@ucl.ac.uk
UCL Medical School
Faculty of Medical Sciences
deborah.gill@ucl.ac.uk
UCL Cancer Institute
Faculty of Medical Sciences
a.hackshaw@ucl.ac.uk
Professor Uta Frith
Dr David Gems
Dr Deborah Gill
Professor
Allan Hackshaw
Professor Graham Hart
Dean of the Faculty of Population
Health Sciences
Mental Health Sciences Unit
u.frith@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Population Health Sciences g.hart@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Population Health Sciences a.hingorani@ucl.ac.uk
Professor Anne Johnson
Faculty of Population Health Sciences anne.johnson@ucl.ac.uk
Institute of Epidemiology & Health
Faculty of Brain Sciences
a.hassiotis@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Angela Hassiotis
Professor
Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences
Aroon Hingorani
Professor David Isenberg Division of Medicine
Faculty of Medical Sciences
d.isenberg@ucl.ac.uk
Professor Steve Jones
Division of Biosciences
Faculty of Life Sciences
j.s.jones@ucl.ac.uk
Professor Peng T Khaw
Institute of Ophthalmology
Faculty of Brain Sciences
p.khaw@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Josef Kittler
Division of Biosciences
Professor Dimitri Kullmann Institute of Neurology
Faculty of Life Sciences
j.kittler@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Brain Sciences
d.kullmann@ucl.ac.uk
Professor Catherine Law
Institute of Child Health
Faculty of Population Health Sciences catherine.law@ucl.ac.uk
Professor Nilli Lavie
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
Division of Surgery & Interventional
Sciences
Institute for Women's Health
Division of Psychology & Language
Sciences
Division of Biosciences
Faculty of Brain Sciences
n.lavie@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical Sciences
m.loizidou@ucl.ac.uk
Division of Medicine
Dr Marilena Loizidou
Professor Neil Marlow
Dr Eamon McCrory
Professor Neil Millar
Professor Hugh
Montgomery
Dr Antonella Riccio
Mr Mike Rowson
Professor
Christiana Ruhrberg
MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell
Biology
Institute for Global Health
Institute of Ophthalmology
Faculty of Population Health Sciences n.marlow@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Brain Sciences
e.mccrory@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Life Sciences
n.millar@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical Sciences
h.montgomery@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Life Sciences
a.riccio@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Population Health Sciences m.rowson@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Brain Sciences
c.ruhrberg@ucl.ac.uk
Division of Psychology & Language
Sciences
Professor
Division of Surgery & Interventional
Alexander M. Seifalian
Science
Professor Gordon Stewart Division of Medicine
Faculty of Brain Sciences
sophie.scott@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical Sciences
a.seifalian@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Medical Sciences
g.stewart@ucl.ac.uk
Professor Sarah Tabrizi
Faculty of Brain Sciences
s.tabrizi@ucl.ac.uk
Faculty of Brain Sciences
e.viding@ucl.ac.uk
Professor Sophie Scott
Professor Essi Viding
Institute of Neurology
Division of Psychology &Language
Sciences
Dr Mary Wickenden
Institute of Child Health
Dr Katherine Woolf
UCL Medical School
Faculty of Population Health
Sciences
Faculty of Medical Sciences
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SLMS Academic Role Models
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