Lauren Eades

"Communicator: I am an approachable, friendly and compassionate person. I enjoy working with people as a team to solve problems and achieve goals.Coordinator: As a PhD student I need to be organised and have good attention to detail in my research. This links well with my coordinator trait.Trainer: I think this trait fits me well. I really enjoy working with and helping a range of people learn new skills. I enjoy being creative, trustworthy and honest. "

"I’m a PhD student who is interested in understanding how a disease called, peripheral vascular disease, effects the blood vessels in the body. If we can understand this, we can help people with peripheral vascular disease avoid complications like leg amputation and live healthier for longer. I love how varied my job is day-to-day; I get to learn new computer analysis skills, design experiments and carry them out in the lab. I like working with a range of people who have skills that are different to mine, meaning that I can learn from them. I find science interesting and helping people fulfils me. It feels good to do something that could make a positive change to peoples lives with peripheral vascular disease. "

"I really enjoyed biology at school. I find it fascinating how complicated the human body is. I went to the University of Manchester to study an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science with an industrial placement year. During my industrial placement year at university I got to carry out my own research project (looking at how drugs can have unwanted side effects on the heart), and I loved the excitement of lab-based research. I then went on to study my PhD at the University of Leeds looking at peripheral vascular disease. "

"I enjoy running, hiking, yoga and gardening. I am also creative and enjoy creating art in my spare time, some of which was featured in an art in medicine exhibition 2020 and won the FEBS COVID-19 art competition 2020. "

"A typical day as a PhD student usually starts with me at on my computer answering emails and planning my week for around 1 hour. I then go into the laboratory (lab) and start my experiments; these differ every day which makes the week exciting and each experiment lasts for around 2-4 hours. After my lunch, I head back into the lab and finish off my experiment. Once I finish in the lab, I head back to my desk and analyse any results I got from my experiments. I then read about new science discoveries on my computer. This helps give me new ideas of new experiments to try in the lab. Some days I have group sessions, talks or meetings with my supervisor. "

"For A-levels I studied biology (B), chemistry (A), psychology (A*) and art (A) at my school sixth form. My favourite subjects in school were biology, chemistry and art. After sixth form I went to study my undergraduate degree at the University of Manchester in Biomedical Science. This was a four year degree in which I carried out a year at a pharmaceutical company as part of my degree. This year of experience gave me an advantage when applying for my current PhD at the University of Leeds. I am now in my second year of my four year PhD and really enjoying the challenge."