Profile
Ben Wiggins
My CV
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Education:
Cotham School, Bristol until 18
University of Birmingham – medical science (2010 – 2013)
University of Birmingham PhD (2014 – 2018) -
Work History:
Used to work in a supermarket for 2-3 years (during my A levels and gap year), doing all sorts from moving trolleys and emptying bins, to serving on checkouts and stacking shelves.
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Current Job:
Postdoctoral Researcher at Imperial College London
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About Me:
I am passionate about studying the immune system, how it works and how it goes wrong in disease.
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Read more
I grew up in Bristol, before moving to Birmingham to do a degree in medical science and then a PhD in immunology. I now have a job at Imperial College and am absolutely loving living and working in London. In my spare time I play badminton, guitar and exploring London with my girlfriend.
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Read more
When most people think of immune cells they picture cells speeding round in the blood, but what’s amazing is actually most of them can be found inside your organs and tissues. Here they scan for invaders to make sure that if any bacteria or virus is detected they can quickly remove it before it has chance to spread and cause damage. We are interested in how these immune cells that sit within organs can communicate with their surroundings to get all the nutrients and support they need to work, and how these different organs use different methods of communication. One recent experiment I carried out involved looking at all the immune cells sat within the fat in order to see how they were changed if we took away one of their key communication methods. Ask me more if interested!
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My Typical Day:
Like most of us, I am now following social distancing guidelines so I am not going into my laboratory at the moment, but i will do my best to describe a typical day before the outbreak. I normally wake up around 6.30 and get on the tube at 7.15 for an hour’s commute to work (London…) and then might have some time to read some scientific papers before i start my experiment that i have planned and prepared the previous day. This typically would involve looking at some cells under a microscope, adding different chemicals to them to encourage them to do something, and then using different colour lasers to see how well they have done that thing! I’ll have lunch normally with some friends, and then carry on my experiment afterwards. When I’m done I am always keen to see the results straight away so I like to analyse my data before I go home (or sometimes on the tube!). However, one of the best things about science is how varied it is. On different days I could be doing only analysis, preparing a talk, writing reports, organising the lab, designing new experiments, having meetings with my boss and other people we work with, going to conferences and loads of other things. I can say completely honestly that it may be busy sometimes, I have never ever been bored at work!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Enthusiastic, organised, down-to-earth
What did you want to be after you left school?
Wasn't sure between research and medicine initially, but soon realised i was more attracted to research
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Only little things like being late (a lot) and laziness. Once I refused to write about what I had for dinner in RE because i thought it was a waste of time so I got kicked out of class which was very unlike me! Must have been ashamed of my dinner I guess..
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Really big into Arcane Roots - only first two albums though..
What's your favourite food?
Impossible! Far too much choice. For cuisine, mexican and thai come to mind the most though.
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
More hours in the day (I bet that's a common one), to be able to speak Japanese fluently, and to be able to play guitar super super fast like a lot of the bands I listen to.
Tell us a joke.
The only one i can remember is off the back of a penguin bar - what do you call a happy penguin? A Pen-grin.
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