Profile
David Wilson
My CV
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Education:
High School of Glasgow (Secondary School), Edinburgh University (Undergraduate), Napier University (Post-Graduate), Edinburgh University (More Post-Graduate)
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Qualifications:
At school I did 7 Standard Grades, 5 Highers and 3 Advanced Highers. After Secondary School I did a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Developmental Biology, a Post Graduate Diploma in Biomedical Science and a Master of Research in Genetics and Molecular Medicine.
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Work History:
My first real job was as a Biomedical Scientist in Pathology for the NHS then I worked in Canada as Research Assistant.
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Current Job:
I am a Senior Research Assistant
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Name of MRC-funded unit/centre/institute:
MRC Human Genetics Unit
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My university:
University of Edinburgh
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About Me:
I’m 37 years old and I live near Edinburgh in Scotland. I have a wife and wee boy who is 2 years old. I’ve been a working as scientist for 12 years.
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I live just outside Edinburgh on the edge of the Pentland Hills with my wife, who is also a scientist. We have a wee boy who is almost 2 years old.
I grew up in Glasgow and moved to Edinburgh to go to university. After university I worked for the NHS as a Biomedical Scientist for 4 years.
In 2010 my wife moved to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, for a few years to work so I moved there too and worked as a Research Assistant in a big lab with lots of exciting research about skeletal muscle and how it repairs itself and what happens when this doesn’t work properly.
When we moved home to Scotland in 2014 I got a job in Edinburgh also as a Research Assistant but working on a different research area, this time liver cancer.
I still work there but i’m about to leave my job to start a PhD in September. It’ll take me 4 years to finish and will be a lot of work but, for me, will be a dream come true!
When I’m not at work our son keeps us very busy but I try and make time for my own interests. I like riding bikes, running up and down mountains and taking photos and videos of my adventures.
I believe that it’s always the perfect weather to BBQ, the best books ever written are “The Lies of Locke Lamora” by Scott Lynch and “The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, “Local Hero” is the best comedy film ever made but “Blade Runner” is a more timeless classic and that Deadpool should be a member of The Avengers.
My pronouns are he/him.
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I work on a type of Cancer called Cholangiocarcinoma. It occurs in the Bile Ducts in the Liver. Bile Ducts are tubes in the Liver that carry Bile from the Liver to your intestines to help digest food.
Sometimes these tubes can become damaged or inflamed and when that happens your body tries to repair itself. We’re trying to understand how it does that and what goes wrong when it doesn’t manage to fix itself.
Sometimes, over a long period of time, this can lead to cancer but at the moment we’re not entirely sure why this is. It’s likely to be a combination of things like your genetics, mutations that might occur in the DNA of liver cells and lifestyle.
At the moment the only real treatment is to have surgery to remove the cancer and possibly a liver transplant. If we can understand why the cancer is happening and what the cells in the liver are doing then it’s possible we can develop a treatment to help patients that have Cholangiocarcinoma.
You can read more about our Lab Group here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/mrc-human-genetics-unit/research/boulter-group
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My Typical Day:
No day is the same! My day is filled with experiments, seminars, analysing results, having meetings, troubleshooting problems. Writing about science and having coffee breaks.
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I cycle or run to work and try and get started by 8am.
A lot of my time is spent in the lab at my bench where I have my own space for doing experiments or in an office a share where I have a desk with a computer.
I use experiments to try and answer questions we have. Experiments can take anywhere from a day to several weeks to do and then you usually have to spend some time looking at the results and trying to work out what they tell you. Experiments always tell you something.
I do a lot of my experiments with cells that I grow in a dish. It’s a bit like gardening, you have to feed and water the cells with the right nutrients and chemicals to help them grow properly.
I spend a lot of time thinking about the results I get in my experiments. I have to think about what they mean and how i can explain them to other scientists and people that aren’t scientists. Communication is a really important part of my job, telling people about our results and the work we do is really important.
Once a week we get together as a lab group to eat cake and talk about the work we’ve been doing, what results we’ve got and if we’re having any problems. It’s a great opportunity to share what you’ve been up to and get some feedback on your work.
I have to finish and leave work by 4pm to get home and pick my son up from nursery.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I want to build a YouTube/Twitch channel that explains what being a research scientist is like and explaining popular science stories you might hear about in the news in a way that is more understandable.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Creative, Enthusiastic, Supportive
What did you want to be after you left school?
I’ve thought about being lots of things since I left school. Doctor, scientist, paramedic, brewer, video creator, running coach, bike mechanic.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Absolutely, i’ve done my fair share of detention on a Friday afternoon.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
My son likes to dance to Baby Shark all day long. I like things from folk to dubstep electronica and classical to metal but one band that will always find a place in any of my playlists is Biffy Clyro.
What's your favourite food?
I’ve recently been learning how to make my own pasta, it’s surprisingly easy and pretty tasty!
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
I wish I was more spontaneous, more patient, and more flexible (I cant touch my toes).
Tell us a joke.
What does a Lion have for lunch? An hour, just like all the other animals!
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