Profile
Sarah Briggs
My CV
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Education:
Bolton School Girls’ Division (GCSE/A levels); University of Oxford (Medical School, and now back doing a PhD)
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Qualifications:
Medical Degree (BMBCh); 3 A2 levels – Biology, Chemistry, English Lit, 1 AS level – Philosophy and Religion; 10 GCSEs – English Language, English Literature, Maths, Triple Science, Music, French, History, Religious Studies
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Work History:
Now: Clinical Research Fellow, Oxford; 2015-2017: Oncology Doctor in Oxford; 2011-2015: Junior Doctor in Oxford; 2008-2010: Junior Doctor in London; During medical school: worked in a pub, and in hospitality at a football stadium
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Current Job:
Clinical Research Fellow
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About Me:
Cancer doctor and researcher, trying to keep my northern accent, often found in the garden
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I live in Oxford with my husband and two very energetic daughters. We love being outdoors – exploring in the woods, gardening. I like running, and yoga when I remember to do it. I currently spend a lot of my free time working on initiatives in climate and health, trying to ensure people understand the link between the two, and encouraging healthcare worker and institutions to be more environmentally conscious. I also love reading when I get the chance (mainly novels). My favourite foods are dark chocolate and peanut butter on toast, ideally with a cup of tea.
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When I went to medical school I really enjoyed learning about research as well as how to look after patients. Now I’m trying to combine the two – I’m training as a medical oncologist (someone who specialises in treating cancer patients with chemotherapy), and doing research at the same time, based around the genetics of people who get bowel cancer.
At the moment I spend all my time on research as I’m studying for a PhD. I’m using information about our genes and lifestyle (like what people eat, whether they smoke, how much exercise they do etc) to try to predict who might be at higher risk of developing bowel cancer. Then I’ll look at whether we could use this risk prediction tool to improve bowel cancer screening (which is where people over 60 years old are offered a test, where they send in a bit of their poo to a laboratory, to see if they might have bowel cancer).
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My Typical Day:
Lots of computer time, coding (or learning to code!) Lots of tea!
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I spend most of the day on my computer, analysing information from a very big study of 500,000 people in the UK (called UK Biobank) to develop computer models to predict bowel cancer. I drink a lot of tea and coffee (see multiple mugs below!)
Sometimes I also spend time in the lab, extracting DNA from people’s blood samples to test for changes that might cause bowel cancer. I quite often go for a run at lunchtime, as spending all day at the computer can be quite hard, and I find a blast of fresh air helps me to concentrate.
I work as part of a team, so we sometimes have meeting to catch up on what everybody’s doing, and because I’m working in the university there are lots of interesting talks by other researchers, so most weeks I’ll also try to go to at least one of those to learn about something new.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I’d love to run a science session on guts and poo with local primary school kids
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Interested, busy, tired!
What did you want to be after you left school?
A doctor, though for a long time I wanted to be an archaeologist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Yes, usually for being late
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Janelle Monae is amazing. And I love Gregory Porter, he's got such a deep comforting voice.
What's your favourite food?
Peanut butter
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
No more climate change, to be better at coding, to run faster
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