Profile
Charlotte Green
My CV
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Education:
Lavant House (1994-2001), South Wilts Grammar (2001-2003), University of Dundee (2003-2009)
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Qualifications:
GCSEs, AS/A-levels, BSc. Hons in pharmacology, PhD in Cell and Molecular Physiology
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Work History:
University of Dundee 2009-10, University of Copenhagen 2010-13 and Oxford University 2013- present
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Current Job:
Post doctoral research fellow/scientist
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I am a post-doctoral (meaning I have a PhD) researcher interested in understanding how fat stored in our livers effects our health. This is important because the liver is a key organ in how our bodies use fats and sugar from our diet and also how medicines work when we are sick. The liver can make its own fat or store fat from the diet. When we have too much fat in our liver it can increase our risk of heart disease and diabetes. However, we do not really understand why some people have more fat in their liver than others.
I use human liver cells and “feed” them fats and sugar to represent what we eat and see how these are used by the cells. By increasing our understanding of how what we eat and how much we exercise has on fat in the liver it will help us to develop new treatments for diseases such as diabetes.
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My Typical Day:
Looking after my cells (making sure they are fed and happy), performing experiments, analysing results, helping and teaching others in the lab.
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One of the great things about science is that no day is the same. At least once a week I have to collect samples from surgery so I can use the cells in my studies. This means I do quite a lot of exercise on this day cycling between different hospitals.
Usually my mornings involve making sure any cells that I have growing are happy: checking they have been fed with special liquid called medium/media and seeing if they are growing.
In the afternoon depending on the experiment I might look at how fats and sugars have changed the amount of fat inside the cells or if they have caused any changes in the gene or protein level.
I also supervise some students who are studying for their PhD, sometimes this involves formal meetings to help them understand their findings and plan new experiments and other days just being there in case they need help.
Finally quite a large chunk of my job involves writing, this can be writing up my research for publications so others can learn and benefit from my results or writing grants for money to continue my research. On some days I may give a seminar to show others my work and get their feedback.
So no day is the same but they are always exciting and challenging.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would like to use the money to go to schools and organised clubs such as scouts and run a hands on interactive session about what is in our food and how our body uses it.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Geek, Happy and fashionista
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No I loved school although once I did put maggots in the biology teachers bag, scary thing is she never noticed!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Queen/30 Seconds to Mars/Avenged Sevenfold/Florence and the Machine/The Jam (I am quite eclectic)
What's your favourite food?
Charlotte loves………Mashed Potato
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. go into space. 2. be a teacher at Hogwarts. 3. be a Jedi.
Tell us a joke.
Knock knock, Who’s there? The names Bond. Bond who? Hydrogen Bond
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