Ellie Handford

"My three personality types are Campaigner, Coach and Influencer. I feel like I relate to aspects of all of these. First, as a campaigner, I am a very driven person, taking pride in everything I do. Secondly, as a coach, I want to exceed expectations and I enjoy thinking creatively to solve problems (this probably explains my love of escape rooms!). Finally, as an influencer, I enjoy taking the time to explain things to help others understand and I have a keen attention to detail, which is important when working with large amounts of data. "

"I am currently working as a summer student in the role of Information Assistant, where I support the Information Analysts with any projects they are undertaking. These projects involve analysing data to provide insights that can be used to inform the strategic decisions made by the organisation. As a summer student, I have been given the opportunity to rotate between different departments to understand the process from data collection, to analysis, to visualisation, to making data-driven decisions. I really like the team-work aspect of my role, as it is important for different teams to work together to support each part of the process. This means I get to work with lots of different people, with different skills and knowledge, and learn from them. "

"At A-levels I studied Biology, Chemistry and Maths, as I really enjoyed these subjects at GCSE. I found that I really enjoyed biology and so applied to study Medical Biochemistry at university. Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes that take place within, and between, each of the cells within your body. During my degree I was given the opportunity to undertake an Industrial Placement at GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company that researches, develops and produces medications. I worked within research and development and got to spend most of my days in the lab, completing super exciting experiments using complex cell models. Specifically, I worked with cells that had been reprogrammed to be immature heart muscle cells – this was really exciting as you could literally see them beating down the microscope!! The experiments I completed produced large amounts of data that needed to be analysed. I found that I greatly enjoyed the data analysis side of the project, which I had not expected before my placement. It was really exciting to see the trends in the data and how they either proved or disproved what you had predicted. This made me realise that I wanted to look for roles in data analysis when I graduated. By undertaking a work experience placement, it made me realise what I loved and what I didn’t enjoy as much, helping me make decisions in the future about the kind of roles I want to apply for. "

"In my spare time I am an avid reader, especially of sci-fi and Greek mythology books. I also enjoy watching series and movies – I’ll watch everything from fantasy to comedy to documentaries. I recently started bouldering, which is climbing but up a shorter wall and without ropes, which is something I never thought I would do as I really don’t like heights!"

"As I work in a support role what I do depends on what support other members of the team need, meaning every day is different! Some days I will spend most of the day in meetings discussing projects, while other days I will be creating data visualisations or writing communications to be sent to different departments. "

"A level: Biology - A, Chemistry - A, Maths - B (2014-2015). BSc Medical Biochemistry at the University of Leicester – First Class Honours (2016-2020)."