Postgraduate Research Student Profiles

After graduating from UCL with a BSc in Anatomy and Developmental Biology in 2000, Hannah studied for an MSc in Bioinformatics and a PhD in Bioinformatics and Medical Genetics at The University of Manchester.

"While working for my MSc, I was influenced by the interdisciplinary nature of the Bioinformatics groups at Manchester and consequently decided to stay at Manchester to study for a PhD. The topic that particularly interested me was based around Williams-Beuren Syndrome, a sporadic microdeletion disorder, and enabled me to hone my bioinformatics skills within a biologically interesting scenario.

Manchester is very open to collaborations between research groups and, due to the variety of research undertaken within the School, there is plenty of support available should you wish to move your work in a different direction. People are very receptive to hearing what you can do and how that could help and advance their research. I'm not sure this kind of infrastructure is available in many other places and definitely not in an institution with the Bioinformatics and Computer Science reputation of Manchester.

I have been fortunate enough to publish much of the work encompassed by my PhD and have also had the opportunity to present papers at international conferences, most notably at ISMB. Alongside a PhD and MSc from a world class institution, I have established a reasonable publication record and developed a number of professional relationships with my peers and mentors-all of which are invaluable when trying to compete in what is now a global jobs market.

I was lucky enough to be awarded the Fulbright-AstraZeneca Research Scholarship. This was undoubtedly helped by the work I have undertaken at Manchester and the people with whom I have forged relationships. In September I moved to Colorado for 18 months to work as a visiting scholar in Larry Hunter's Group. On my return I would like to move into the pharmaceutical industry as a Bioinformatician. However, I hope to stay in touch with a number of people at Manchester and continue to look to these individuals for advice and guidance."