Profile
Hannah Greenwood
My CV
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Education:
Neston High School, Aston University, University of Birmingham
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Qualifications:
A-levels in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Psychology, BSc (Hons) Immunity and Infection, PhD
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Work History:
Aston University, Dubai English Speaking College, University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
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Current Job:
Post-Doctoral Scientist
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As a scientist, I’m interested in how well (or badly) our immune system copes when we get pneumonia (a bacterial infection of the lungs) as we get older. For this project, I take blood from pneumonia patients in the hospital (my friends call me a vampire because I do this a lot!) and isolate their neutrophils, a type of white blood cell who’s job is to eat and destroy bacteria. I then measure how well these neutrophils can do their job and try to find ways to help them do it better. As we get older, we’ve (my team and I) noticed that these neutrophils get very confused and can’t do their job properly, so if I can help our neutrophils seek and destroy bacteria better, then we might not get ill as much, or as seriously, when we get older.
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My Typical Day:
Spending lots of time staring down a microscope looking at wiggling neutrophils
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I take blood in the morning, measure neutrophil function in the afternoon (this is where the microscope comes in) and eat lots of cake in between. Seriously, LOTS of cake, we have a cake rota in my office and everything so that we never run out! I then have to go the gym to work off all that cake (this bits not so much fun!).
Occasionally I get to go to conferences to chat with other scientists about my work. One year I went to Texas, USA and saw some real life cowboys and ate the best burgers of my life, it was amazing and all in the name of science!
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Work with the British Science Association to get more children and young adults involved in Science
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Geeky, Chatty, Disorganised
Were you ever in trouble at school?
All the time – I talk too much
Who is your favourite singer or band?
James Bay, Taylor Swift, George Ezra, Ed Sheeran
What's your favourite food?
Cake (and lots of it!)
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1) Win the lottery, 2) Travel the world, 3) Live and work in New York
Tell us a joke.
A neutron walks into a bar and asks how much for a beer. The bartender replies “for you, no charge”
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