Profile
Anna Parsons
My CV
-
Education:
I went to school in Cambridge, then Hills Road Sixth Form College, also in Cambridge.
Next I went to the University of Leicester to study Neuroscience, and now I’m doing my PhD at the University of Oxford.
-
Qualifications:
GCSEs: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, English Lit, English Language, French, Spanish, Latin, Drama, History.
A Levels: Biology, Chemistry, Maths
AS Level: Philosophy
-
Work History:
I’ve worked in a shoe shop, a pub, a cycle cafe, a care home, and as a tutor.
-
Current Job:
PhD Researcher at MRC Harwell
-
About Me:
PhD researcher in the genetics of neuroscience.
Loves coffee ☕ singing 🎶 & the planet 🌍 -
Read more
I’m 24, I live in Oxford with my partner and our many plants. I love picking up new hobbies, like knitting and cookery, and I enjoy going to pub quizzes with my friends. Science has always been my favourite subject, and I fell in love with the brain when I was at university, so now I’m doing my PhD in neuroscience.
-
Read more
My lab works on a family of genes that can protect against cell death, by preventing something called oxidative stress (which is where a build up of dangerous reactive molecules cause damage to the cells). One of these genes is especially linked with disease, as mutations in the gene cause epilepsy. Another of the genes can be overexpressed to protect against neurodegeneration, in diseases such as ALS. I’m studying both of these genes, to try and understand how they work, and to try and find cures for neurodegenerative diseases.
-
My Typical Day:
There is no typical day for me, I do something different every week!
Usually I get up early and take the bus to where I work, then I sit in the office with a cup of coffee, planning my day and all the experiments I will be doing. After my coffee I go to the lab and get started, performing experiments like Western Blotting (to look at proteins), qPCR (to look at which genes are expressed), and staining (to look at the cells in the brain)!
Some weeks I will go and visit the mouse facility, to observe different mouse behaviours. From this I can tell things like how anxious the mice are, how good they are at movement, and whether there is anything wrong with their brains, that I can study more closely in the lab.
-
My Interview
-
How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Thoughtful, creative, curious
What did you want to be after you left school?
An actor
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Once, when I got into a food fight
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Lauryn Hill
What's your favourite food?
Smoked salmon
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
I would wish to have a cat, to know the answer to my research questions, and to be a bit taller!
Tell us a joke.
Why was the bee's hair sticky? 🐝 Because he used a honeycomb!
-