Please briefly describe your clinical/medical experience to date?
After medical school I moved to North Scotland to complete the Foundation Programme. I had four month in Fort William, with the rest of the programme in Aberdeen where I had my first paediatric placement as a doctor, in Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital). I then came down to London for my Paediatric Specialty training and have been moving between South London hospitals over the last two years (Queen Elizabeth Hospital & King’s College Hospital). From these placements I’ve gained paediatric oncology exposure, but also in specialties ranging from neonatology to neurosurgery.
What motivated you to enter paediatric care in the first place?
Before studying medicine I was studying at the Institute of Child Health in UCL. Since then I have always found the unique perspectives of children and their view on the world to be so refreshing, but also inspiring. Furthermore, I feel that I can make a much larger positive impact on childrens’ lives.
How will the funding from The Evie Dove Foundation help you to advance your career and your impact/services to children?
Within my paediatric training I plan to specialise in paediatric oncology. I’ve completed two years of a seven-year training programme but am now taking some time off to complete a PhD in Pathology at the University of Cambridge. I’m interested in the ways gene expression is controlled and regulated (epigenetics), and how this process is particularly involved in childhood cancer biology, relative to adults. My particular PhD project is looking into children who have become resistant to their treatment and whether there are common pathways that can be separately targeted to stop this. Without help from the Evie Dove Foundation this would not be possible.
How did you find out about The Evie Dove Foundation?
Through colleagues at work in King’s College Hospital.
Tell us about yourself!
I’m now living in Central Cambridge, but before this I was living in North Greenwich. My wider family are split between England and France and in my spare time I am trying to improve my French. However, since moving to Cambridge I’ve also joined Caius Boat Club and am enjoying rowing on the water again.
Anything else you would like to tell us about your experience, future aspirations and motivations?
My future ambition is to become a clinician-scientist, running my own laboratory group, and combining pre-clinical research on epigenetic dysfunction, with computational modelling and AI to create better-informed clinical trials to try and improve the survival rates for children with cancer.
