My placement year at Leica Biosystems

By Alexandra Lazarova

A placement with a Cancer Diagnostics company – yes please!

I’m studying BSc Biomedical Genetics with Professional Placement Year and knew I wanted to do a placement year since my first year of university, when I attended a placement talk given by several companies. A year and a half later, after applying to several companies, I found myself in an interview for a placement year at Leica Biosystems in Newcastle…and ended up getting the position!

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My Final Year Project

By Liza Petrova, BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences

Hi everyone! In January I began working on my final year project. In this blog post we will peek into a real neuroscience laboratory, check out the quirky equipment inside and I will share some details about experiments I do every day.

A bit of background

My project is about alpha-synucleinopathies, which are conditions where a protein called alpha synuclein (ASYN) is mutated and forms toxic “clumps” in the brain. Examples of alpha-synucleinopathies are Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.

Image of hand shaking whilst holding a glass.
Parkinson’s disease. Photo by Alessandro Grandini on Adobe Stock
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My Summer Travels with Cryptosporidium

Rosie, our Biomed undergrad tells you of her experience working in Wales and Liverpool on a summer research placement

By Rosie Gathercole

Working with poo turned out to be exactly the summer experience I wanted!

I worked at the national Cryptosporidium Reference Unit (CRU) at Public Health Wales in Swansea with Professor Rachel Chalmers and her team. I received a Scholarship from the Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM) for this placement, writing the application together with Rachel.

Rosie with a computer screen behind her showing the live spectra produced by the mass spec machine
Me working on my summer placement

Cryptosporidium is a parasite that causes diarrhoea, is found globally and is typically passed from animals, other people, food and fresh water sources. It is currently a human health issue due to the significant effect it has in developing countries and the lack of specific treatments to fight the parasite. Quite often how well you recover from the illness depends on how healthy you were to begin with!

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Transitioning from NUMed to Newcastle

By Dania Hammadi

It’s bigger, bolder, brighter.

That’s how I would describe my experience transitioning to Newcastle University from NUMed. Life is pretty similar; people are friendly, the teaching is amazing, the city is as beautiful as home. The only difference is that these things are all bigger, bolder, and brighter here in the U.K. And I’m definitely not complaining!

The red bricks of Newcastle University's Armstrong building looking glorious in the sun
The red bricks of Newcastle University’s Armstrong building looking glorious in the sun

The move from Malaysia was definitely a tough one. I grew up in Penang, an island just northwest off mainland Malaysia, and this was the only home I’d known. Moving 10-hours away to Johor to start my degree in Biomedical Sciences was scary enough, but NUMed turned to be a home away from home. We’re such a small, tight-knitted community, and on campus we could bond in ways students in a larger university wouldn’t be able to.

“Choosing to begin my studies at NUMed has been the best decision I’ve ever made!”

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The day I was asked to poison someone

By Dr Sarah Judge

When I got a phone call out of the blue from a screenwriter for Hollyoaks, the popular Channel 4 TV programme, asking for help with one of their upcoming stories, I was intrigued.

Why ask me, a scientist at Newcastle University, for help?

Top secret

I wasn’t allowed to know who, but the screenwriter wanted me to poison and kill off one of the soap characters.

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NuMED to Newcastle – Back to the UK… After 7 years!

“Things don’t change. We change.”

By Sabrina Amran, Third Year Biomedical Sciences student

Flatmates and I (in middle) visiting (and posing!) the med school for the first time!

The UK was a lot different in my childhood memories compared to how I see it as of now. 

Sure, ‘Wilkinsons’ became ‘Wilko’, and everything was a couple pounds cheaper 7 years ago. The weather now seemed sunnier and hotter as well…but I’m not sure how long this will last.

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Why Study Abroad?

By Dr Carys Watts

Going abroad may be a week’s holiday, or to some it’s going global or for longer, but have you ever thought about studying abroad as part of your Newcastle University degree? You could study abroad for a few weeks or up to an entire year, and it could change your perspective forever.

‘I can honestly say it was the best time of my life’– Eleanor (semester at Monash University, Melbourne)

Did you know you can study language modules for free at Newcastle?

I’m not sure it is for me

So you may think of reasons why not to do it, but there are loads of great reasons to give it a try: Continue reading “Why Study Abroad?”

5 top tips to improve your mental health at uni

By Ruth Harding, second year Biomedical Science student

I had a difficult time at home before I started at Newcastle university and I found that I was struggling to cope at points during my first year.

These are my top 5 tips to help improve your mental health while at university based on my personal experiences:

1. Access support

There is plenty of support available at uni, the first thing to do when you feel you are experiencing difficulties is to access the support that is available to you as soon as you possibly can.

I found the transition from sixth form to university to be a challenge especially when I was battling poor mental health at the same time. The university support I found to be the most helpful was my personal tutor and the student services team (student wellbeing). There is also an online CBT programme available to all Newcastle students here. There are also useful links and tips on the Ncl wellbeing app.

Family and friends form an important support network while at uni – me, Hannah and Cornelius.

As well as university support I encourage you to build a wider network, I do not think I would have got through the year without the support of my friends, and family.

Try a society or a sports team or Go volunteer!

I feel it was very important for me to share what I was going through with people I trusted as it made me feel less alone. There is more information on the university support available here Continue reading “5 top tips to improve your mental health at uni”