Profile
![Photo:](/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/lisadwane-150x150.jpg)
Lisa
My CV
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Education:
School: Caritas college, Ballyfermot. Undergraduate: UCD. Postgraduate: RCSI
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Qualifications:
I have a bachelor of science, and I will be graduating with my PhD on the 15th November!
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Work History:
During college, I worked in a pharmacy advising patients what medicines to take when they were sick
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Current Job:
I am currently a cancer biologist, specifically working on breast cancer
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About Me
I'm a 28 year old cancer biologist from Dublin!
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Read more
I have always had a passion for science, which led me to study pharmacology in University College Dublin (UCD) after school! I had a very keen interest in breast cancer research, as my mother had breast cancer when I was 14 years old. This lead me to undertake a PhD in breast cancer research in the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI), on Stephen’s Green in Dublin. I have just completed this, and will be graduating with my degree on 15th November….. exciting! I am still working in the lab in RCSI as a postdoctoral researcher. Next year, I hope to move out of Ireland for a year or two, and get some experience in an international lab!
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My Typical Day
I spend most of day at the lab bench, working on breast cancer cells and trying to understand how they function differently to normal cells.
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I usually start my day by responding to the emails in my inbox, catching up on any new scientific discoveries, and planning my experiments for the day (all over a nice cup of tea of course!). I then need to look after my breast cancer cells which are growing in the lab. They are living cells, so I need to make sure they are supplied with the nutrients they need, and are kept at a cosy 37 degrees Celsius (just like looking after a baby, ha!). I often expose these cells to different drugs, or alter their DNA, to see how they react. This can give us a good idea as to how these experiments would work in an animal model (a mouse or rat), and then in a human. We have lots of great equipment here in RCSI to carry out these experiments. At the end of the day, I analyse all of my data on my laptop….. there’s a lot of math, which sounds difficult, but I have lots of great friends here to help me out! My day usually finishes at 5 or 6 pm…. home to watch Netflix!
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What I'd do with the prize money
I would like to donate the money to the Science Gallery in Trinity College Dublin.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Organised, hard-working
What did you want to be after you left school?
A scientist of course!
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Maybe for chewing gum.... woops!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
My favourite band is the xx, they're from London!
What's your favourite food?
Pizza
What is the most fun thing you've done?
I went on holidays to New York last year which was amazing!
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To work in a lab in New York... to own a golden retriever puppy and.... to have 3 more wishes ;)
Tell us a joke.
How does an astronaut sever dinner in space? On a flying saucer!
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