ALUMNAE PROFILE: SOPHIE ELLIOT Sophie Elliot

I left Downe House and began an MSc in Biochemistry at Exeter College, Oxford in 2019. I am now in my third of four years, which seems to have passed unbelievably fast! I found it difficult to choose what specific area of science I wanted to study at university. When I was in the Sixth Form I deliberated over medicine and natural sciences for a bit, but eventually, with the help of my teachers settled on Biochemistry because it was a good intersection of the areas of chemistry and biology, which I enjoyed. I like to describe my course as biology at a cellular level, and I have come to realise that it is essentially all about proteins.

I learnt a lot from Downe House that has stayed with me. Particularly time management because you are always busy at school and getting involved in a huge range of extracurricular activities, which you must learn to juggle. In Science specifically, making links across topics and subjects to help ground your knowledge and trying to see concepts as a whole rather than just syllabus points, were things that were encouraged and have served me very well whilst studying my degree. I know it can feel frustrating when teachers say it is not all about the exams, because they are important, but do try to enjoy your subjects (or find bits that you really love) because it motivates you to learn more.

This summer I am taking the exams that will conclude the undergraduate part of my degree. It has not been the smoothest run, moving to online lectures, labs and tutorials has made things a little more difficult, but fortunately this year has seen a return to in-person teaching. I have really enjoyed topics such as chromosome biology, human metabolic integration and immunology, and even ones that at school I would not have imagined I would like, such as RNA biology and bacterial metabolism. Biochemistry really does take things to a deeper level and there is always more to uncover when you think you have exhausted a topic. That is why I love the subject even if it does make the revision a little tricky!

Next year I will be beginning the Master’s part of my degree. I will be contributing to ongoing laboratory work and will hopefully produce some worthwhile data. The laboratory that I will be working in focuses specifically on cell cycle and the mitotic spindle; to discover more about the regulation of cell division, which sheds light on how it may be defective in cancer and specific treatment targets. Some of the investigatory techniques that I could be using include western blotting, CRISPR gene editing, live and fixed cell microscopy, as well as methods for determining the structure of proteins. The likely proteins that I will be studying are the kinases Aurora A and Aurora B. I am very excited to be putting to use the skills and knowledge I have acquired over my three years into active research.