Hello, Bonjour, Hallo, Ciao, Olà!
I would like to introduce myself as one of the newest members of the EACR team: I’m Sophie and I am a final year PhD student based in the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre at the University of Nottingham, UK. My research specialises in establishing a 3D spheroid model of medulloblastoma which recapitulates tumour growth, drug response and metastatic dissemination.
I know what you’re thinking… Why is a PhD student working in the EACR office, shouldn’t she be in a lab?
Yes, I would be tempted to agree with you (especially as I am due to submit my thesis in less than a year!). However as part of my PhD programme, funded by the BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership, I have the unique opportunity to undertake a three-month internship. This placement can be in any career sector including teaching, policy-making, media and industry, the only condition is that it has to be completely unrelated to my PhD project.
When considering where I would like to do my placement, the EACR seemed like the obvious choice to explore an alternative side of cancer research. Being an EACR Member, Ambassador and delegate at Goodbye Flat Biology, part of EACR Conferences, I have first-hand experience of the excellent work that the organisation does for those working and studying in cancer research. Luckily when I approached the EACR, they were just as excited as me at the prospect of having an intern working with them for three months.
So that’s how I have ended up here, sitting in the EACR office!
During my internship, I will be working with the EACR to explore the European cancer policy landscape (a whole world away from my cancer biology roots!). As well as this I will be interacting more with all of you, members of the EACR community, as I discuss #PhDLife in a new blog series. Keep a look out for this in The Cancer Researcher and on social media – it would be great to hear your thoughts on the topics I will be discussing!
About the author
Sophie Roper is a final year PhD student in the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre at the University of Nottingham. She is an EACR Member and Ambassador and is currently an intern in the EACR office. Her research specialises in 3D in vitro modelling of medulloblastoma.
