Timothy Saunders

I studied double maths, physics and history for A-levels. This reflects my generalist approach to my work that continues today. As an undergraduate, I studied maths and physics, before going on to a PhD in theoretical physics. Towards the end of my PhD, I began looking for new directions and was very excited by the emerging field of quantitative biology. I began my own lab in 2013 in Singapore, where I grew an interdisciplinary team studying how complex organ shape emerges during development. In 2021 I moved back to the UK, to join Warwick Medical School. My lab focuses on how our organs form, in particular the heart and skeletal muscle. My lab contains mathematicians, computer scientists, developmental biologists and microscopists, facilitating an interdisciplinary research environment.

Andrew McAinsh

My early years were spent near Manchester, mostly playing football and riding bikes whilst quietly wondering how the universe works. School science just didn’t seem to focus on the big science questions, but once at university and seeing what was possible with molecular biology, I realised that this was all I wanted to do. From there I have worked with amazing people in amazing places and now have the privilege of spending my days discovering how the machinery inside a cell works (whilst still riding my bike). It’s clear we'll need to combine the powers of molecular biology, physics and chemistry to really figure out how life works. This course will set you on the path to do just that.

Aparna Ratheesh

When I was young, I secretly wanted to be a librarian (the possibility of having endless books to read was tremendously appealing), while my family wanted me to be a doctor. But when I was at high school, my aunt who is a biochemist, introduced me to biological research and as much as I loved reading, I found research much more exciting. When I started out I was not really sure whether I wanted to do this for the rest of my life, but now I can’t really see myself doing anything else. On an average day I switch between doing experiments and reading or bits of writing, so while it can get stressful, it never gets boring. My primary research interest is in understanding how cells migrate. One of the things that I find especially fascinating about cell migration is that cells continually communicate with each other and their surroundings while they are busy moving about, and I am currently studying cell migration in fruit fly embryos to understand this complex behaviour further.

Andy Blanks

From a young age I was a dedicated geek. I had no particular preference for any subject and just enjoyed learning about anything and everything. My first ambition was to be a fighter pilot in the RAF, but began to gravitate towards the sciences as my father was a pharmacist and I was interested in the challenges of studying the mechanism of action of drugs. However, it was undertaking and planning practical science for the first time during a final year undergraduate lab project that really convinced me that a career in research was for me. The evolution of genuine interdisciplinarity to solve important biological problems has allowed me to engage in learning on many fronts, from computation, to biophysics, to molecular biology. How cool is it to have all these areas of learning in one course?!

Marco Polin

I grew up in a small town in the Italian alps and, despite always being very curious, I was mostly preoccupied with having fun with my friends. Things changed in high-school. I was lucky to have a superlative literature teacher, who worked his magic and managed to show me how rich and beautiful is the world of ideas that the great minds of the past left us in their writings. I was totally sold. From art to science is a short step, and I decided to try my luck with a Physics MSc. It was a tough and exhilarating four years, but the effort paid off and I made it through and into graduate school in the US (serendipitously, but that’s another story), where I moved from theoretical particle physics, to mathematical physics, to experimental soft condensed matter. After some time, though, I had enough of squidgy and inanimate. That’s when I (re)discovered biology. Looking at biology from a quantitative physics background one can really start to appreciate that the elegant and fantastically complex world of living matter in fact “makes sense”, physically speaking. I really believe that an integrated point of view on biology is the correct way to advance our understanding of life, and that’s precisely what our course aims to provide. I’m really excited to be part of it!

Dorota Boehm

At school I always enjoyed science especially Biology and Chemistry. I didn’t like Physics which I blame my teachers for who, I believe, lacked true interest and passion in the subject. After secondary school I followed my interests and enrolled at university to study Biotechnology. It was a BIG step into my adulthood and at the same time one of the best periods in my life. Away from my home town (and parents) I could experience freedom as well as full responsibility for my own life.

My studies and later research career let me realise how world is wonderfully made and how diverse and complex it is. There is no doubt that discovering its wonders can become a great passion for one’s life and allow humanity to understand it a bit more.

One of my greatest joys is reading books. I prefer non-fiction and most of my favourite books relate to medicine and psychology but, as a teenager, I used to read horror and love stories too.

I can confess that apart from my career path I have always dreamt about having my own family which currently is my biggest source of happiness and fulfilment. 

Masanori Mishima

In my first year of university, I took an optional module that combined lectures about cell division and the experiments at the marine biology station using sea urchins. The cleavage of the sea urchin embryos in real time under the microscope was so beautiful - it fascinated me. The module was led by Dr. Issei Mabuchi, who had discovered ~10 years previously that the cleavage of the animal cell at cell division is driven by a similar mechanism to muscle contraction. He told me that I was watching the real scientific problem, i.e., regardless of accumulating anatomical knowledge such as which part of the mitotic spindle positions the site of cleavage, almost nothing was known about the mechanisms at a molecular level. I somehow believed that this is something worth spending many years of my life trying to solve. I hope you, in this course, find something that might keep you inspired through your life, or at least learn the skills that will help you to do so in the future.

Nicole Robb

I grew up in South Africa where I wanted to be a wildlife vet, but by the time I reached university my interests had moved on to much, much smaller things and I ended up studying microbiology. One of my final year courses was virology which I absolutely loved, and so I was really happy to carry this on during my PhD where I worked on influenza viruses. My research group now focuses on using microscopy and other biophysical methods to study a range of different viruses, as well as developing new ways to diagnose viral pathogens. It’s fascinating to work at the interface of biology and physics, and this degree offers a fantastic opportunity to learn how interdisciplinary research works.

Georgina Barrett

I have a mainly customer service based background, previously working in hospitality. My first role at Warwick Medical School was as a secretary within the postgraduate education team.

In my current role, I am one of the first points of contact for our undergraduate students, providing information, advice and administrative support on all aspects of our undergraduate courses.