About

I am a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, funded by the Wellcome Trust. Officially my PhD is in Mathematics, Genomics and Medicine but more specifically I am interested in improving understanding of the immune system by constructing networks describing the interactions between genes.

During my MRes year I studied a number of courses in Machine Learning, Statistics, Biology, Genomics and Bioinformatics. I also completed two research rotations. The first was a starting point for my current PhD project in constructing gene regulatory networks with Chris Wallace, MRC Biostatistics Unit, and Ken Smith, CITIID, Department of Medicine. The second was feature design for predicting whether two peptide fragments will bind together, with potential application in research in Alzheimer’s Disease. This was a joint project with Michele Vendrusculo at the Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Chemistry, Pietro Lio’ in Computer Science and Paul Kirk in MRC Biostatistics Unit.

Before Cambridge

I studied Mathematics (MMath) at the University of Oxford from 2012-2016, focusing on pure mathematics in the early years but with a greater focus on statistics in later years. I think the greatest skill I gained from this degree was the ability to look at a dense page of information, none of which I understand, and slowly work out its meaning piece by piece. I have found this a useful skill when studying in many different fields, and in programming.

I’ve always had an interest in coding, having spent many hours during my childhood on programming projects with my brother, such as a virtual reconstruction of an enigma machine. In 2015 I did a summer internship at a software engineering company and started a job at the same company after my graduation in 2016. I learned how to code in C and python and improved key coding skills such as design and test generation.