Profile
Tom Dawson
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About Me:
Currently undertaking a PhD in Computational Microbiology and Epidemiology in Nottingham. I enjoy videogames, going to concerts and practicing historical swordsmanship.
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My scientific background before my current PhD is mostly in practical Microbiology and Molecular Biology. I spent my Masters project researching Plague bacteria and spent some of my time in industry working to produce cellular models for studying Hepatitis B.
Favourite video games are: Disco Elysium, Bloodborne, and Resident Evil 2.
The majority of my sword training was focussed on backsword according to the writings of George Silver, Henry Angelo the Younger, and Alfred Hutton.
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My pronouns are:
He/Him
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My Work:
My current work is focussed on Mycobacteria avium paratuberculosis and its genetic characteristics.
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The hopeful outcome of this work is that it will inform how we analyse and reconstruct the spread of this disease. In addition to the computer based work looking at genetics I am also going to be investigating different methods of DNA extraction for Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis to see whether I can develop a more efficient and less time consuming process (since Mycobacterium in general take a very long time to grow in the lab).
I apologise for the lack of images. I am either working in a biosafety 2 or higher lab and so cannot take my phone out to take pictures or I am working at a computer which is pretty boring visually.
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My Typical Day:
I wake up, have breakfast and feed the cats. I get to work between 9-10am and check my emails and on any programmes running on the lab server to make sure they haven’t encountered any errors.
Day to day work is quite varied depending on exactly what I need to be doing although it typically involves running programmes on my datasets in addition to formatting and organising data.
In the afternoon I tend to write up notes and record processes that I performed (programme name, settings, version number etc) in addition to any other housekeeping I need to do. If I have time after that I read some papers. I typically go home between 5-7pm depending on workload.
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Education:
Stratton Upper School: GCSEs and A levels
University of Nottingham: Bachelor and Masters degrees
University of Nottingham/Nottingham Trent University: PhD
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Qualifications:
I took my GCSEs in 2010 so I cant remember the exact grades.
— A-C: History, Maths, Additional Maths, English Literature, English Language, ICT, PSHCE, Citizenship, Science, Additional Science, Systems and Control.— D: RE
AS levels: Chemistry (C)
A levels: Biology (A), Physics (B), History (B)
BSc(Hons): Biology (2:1)
MSc: Clinical and Molecular Microbiology (Merit)
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Work History:
After my undergraduate degree I spent a year working various jobs most notably 6 months as a sheet metal manufacturer and 3 months as an agronomy technician working at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany.
After my Masters i spend a year working in a factory making PVC windows. I then spent two and a half years working at GSK as a technician making lab reagents and another year working as a cell culture and molecular biology technician.
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Current Job:
Currently a PhD researcher as part of the BBSRC doctoral training partnership joint between Nottingham Trent University and University of Nottingham.
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Employer:
I am supported by a research stipend from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. I work within the Antimicrobial Resistance, Omics and Microbiota research group at Nottingham Trent University and the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Nottingham.
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
Scientist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Not really, although I had the habit of zoning out in class.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I would probably be a molecular biologist
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Tribulation
What's your favourite food?
Bibimbap
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