Dr A Mesut Erzurumluoglu University of Leicester 020516 Erzurumluoglu et al 2015 Alsaadi and Erzurumluoglu et al 2014 Interested in a career in following your curiosity ID: 933268
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Slide1
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Genetic Epidemiology
Dr.
A. Mesut ErzurumluogluUniversity of Leicester02/05/16
Erzurumluoglu
et al, 2015
Alsaadi and Erzurumluoglu et al, 2014
Interested in a career in 'following your curiosity'? Become an academic!
Erzurumluoglu
et al
, 2016
Slide2Contents
What is a Postdoc?Genetic EpidemiologyMy backgroundWhy I chose academia/research?
Why you shouldn’t chooseSuggestions
Slide3Penicillin
Microwave oven
Post-It notes
X-ray scan
Crisps
Serendipity
Slide4Genetics
Human
Plant
Bacterial
Worm
Fungal
Viral
Zebrafish
Fly
Population Genetics
Forensic Genetics
Clinical Genetics
Genetic Epidemiology
Mice
Medical Genetics
Bioinformatics
Biostatistics
Slide5What do I do?
Postdoctoral RA in Genetic EpidemiologyStudy the genetic aetiology of common and rare respiratory diseasesChronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (
COPD)Mostly smokers, but most smokers do not develop COPDSmoking addictionConsanguineous unionsNovel gene functions
Autosomal recessive disease causal variantsGenetic counselling and diagnostics
Slide6My background
A levels in Maths (A), Further Maths (B), Physics (B) and Electronics (A) – WQEIA level in Biology (B) – External studentBSc in ‘Biological Sciences (Genetics)’ – University of Leicester (2.1)
Genetics – DNA fingerprintingPhD in ‘Genetic Epidemiology’ – University of BristolGenetics of Consanguineous unions
Slide7Biography Timeline
Born
Aug 1988
PhD
Nov 2015
Moved to LeicesterSept 2000
GCSEs
Jun 2004
A Levels
Jun 2006
BSc
Jun 2011
“You’re dumb!”
Ms. P
Dr.
Fred Tata
Crown Hills Com. College
WQEI
Prof.
Annette
Cashmore
Two Gap years
Univ. of Leicester
Univ. of Bristol
A level in Biology
Work
Experience
Turkey
Turkey
UK
Parents returned to Turkey
Slide8Made the right choice
Happy, proud and respectedLooking forward to workExciting projectsMeet brilliant people
See fantastic places – see later slidesDecent wage and amount of free timeWorking for myself (ultimately!)So many job opportunities!Genetic Epidemiology
Bioinformatics and Biostatistics
Slide9Why I chose Academia?
Ideals: making a difference in people’s livesMankind as a wholeStudents
Local communityLearning all the timeEndless knowledgeAlways new challengesSerendipityWork in your own tempoIndeterminate hours
Slide10Why you shouldn’t choose Academia?
MoneyRespect
‘Dr.’ titleYour parents want you toYou feel it’s going to be easy“I’m too clever”It won’t get easier
“Everyone (around you) is doing it”“I’ll work on my own”
Slide11Suggestions from a friend
Get your priorities rightListen to people wiser than you!
Take notesAttend seminarsLearn from others’ mistakes/experiencesWork experience/Volunteering/SportsPut something concrete in CVEveryone’s “hard working” and “enthusiastic”
Imposter syndromeTrust yourself!Work hard!
Slide12Greatest (and exciting) challenges
Understanding the aetiology of common complex disordersCancers
Coronary heart diseaseDiabetes/ObesityChronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseAgeingDrug development – next slideGene editing techniques
Novel statistical methods for analysing the genome/large data
Slide13Challenges – Disease biology
Many discoveries being madeMany clinical trials initiatedHowever many fail at different phasesCosting years of effort, but also huge amounts of money
New methods/techniques required to ensure more discoveries become therapies/curesAnd as fast as possible – current trials take 15-20 years
Slide14Some of the places I got to see/visit during my (short) career
Slide15Barcelona Supercomputer centre
Some of the places I got to see/live in during my PhD
CSHL, Long Island, NY
Slide16Manhattan
European Bioinformatics Institute, Cambridge
Slide17Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol
Slide18University of Leicester Centre for Medicine
Slide19Haydar
Aliyev Centre, Baku