Profile

I live on the Wirral, near Liverpool and not far from the sea. I was born in Colombia, South America, (my Mum is Colombian and my Dad is British) and came to the UK when I was 9 years old.

I have a cheeky little black cat called Paikea, who is quite old, but nobody has told her, so she still plays like a kitten.

I love the ocean and enjoy swimming, surfing and scuba diving (even if the water is really cold!). I love to travel abroad, and recently visited Finland, way up into the Arctic Circle (even further North than where Santa lives!) to spend time on a reindeer farm. It was amazing!

Something else I really love is cooking, especially food from different parts of the world. Whenever I travel abroad, I like to try new dishes and learn recipes that I can cook back home. I love to grow all sorts of fruit and vegetables in the garden too. I’ve started running to get fitter and ran a 10K race earlier this year. I’m now training for a half-marathon, and who knows, maybe I’ll run a full marathon one day!

There are different parts to my life as a scientist:

My main work is using different ways to sample and test for a tiny tapeworm that lives in the intestines of dogs, called Echinococcus, to investigate where in the UK we have this parasite. The reason this work is important is that this parasite can also spread to other species, including us humans, and can cause a pretty nasty disease called Hydatid Disease.

At the moment we don’t really know where in the UK this parasite can be found, so my research looks at taking poo samples from dogs (yuk!) around the country, and samples of raw meat from abattoirs (more yuk!) to test for the parasite. I can then use the test results to draw maps of where the parasite is found, and look for clues as to how it spreads. When the work is complete and I finish my PhD, I hope I can produce really useful information to help us stop the parasite from spreading.

I also still work as a regular vet at the veterinary practice here at Liverpool University, taking care of cats, dogs and small furry creatures. This work also involves teaching and training the students on their course to become the vets of the future!

One important difference between these two areas of work, is that the clinic work usually involves looking at disease in a single animal, and the PhD research involves looking at disease in large populations of animals – two different skills in science!

If I am doing research work, a typical day might be preparing sampling kits to send to dog owners for them to collect a bit of poo to send back to me in the lab. When I have collected enough samples, my days will be spent busy in the lab looking for parasites under the microscope, or testing the samples for evidence of parasite DNA.

If I am doing a day of clinical work, a typical day would be spent operating in the surgical theatre in the morning, and seeing clients and their pets during consultations in the afternoon. Because I work in a teaching hospital, there is also time with the students giving classes on different vet topics, for example, how to diagnose a skin infection and how to choose the right treatment for it.

At the end of the working day, I’ll meet with friends or head home, go for a run in the park near my house, then cook up something yummy for tea!