New PhD Student

Alexander Collings

Alex Collings 

I grew up in north-west London and I have spent every summer since I was born with my mother’s family in Colombia where I was lucky enough to grow up speaking both English and Spanish. After school, I travelled and experienced the world for a year before I decided to move far away to Scotland to read Biochemistry for my undergraduate degree at the University of Aberdeen, which is where my interest in cancer research developed. Glasgow very quickly became a place I both wanted to live in and begin a career in cancer research and so I achieved a master’s degree in Cancer Sciences at the University of Glasgow based at the Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre. This is where I had the great pleasure to meet and work with my current PhD supervisors Christina Halsey and Fiona Thomson. Shortly after completing my master’s degree, I was accepted as a PhD candidate in October 2017. The Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) and the Little Princess Trust generously fund the PhD and my work involves the development of biomarkers to enable personalised therapy for children with central nervous system acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
Email: a.collings.1@research.gla.ac.uk

PhD Awards

Dr Susan Rhodes supervised by Prof Mhairi Copland and Dr Helen Wheadon, May 17

Dr Gillian Horne supervised by Prof Mhairi Copland and Prof Tessa Holyoake,  Oct 17.  Gillian went on to win the Thomas and Margaret Smellie Prize which is only awarded every 5 years for the best thesis in relation to cancer research.

Dr Shahzya Chaudhury supervised by Dr Karen Keeshan and Prof Brenda Gibson, Oct 17

Mara Salome supervised by Dr Karen Keeshan and Dr Helen Wheadon, Oct 17.

Chris Estell and Victoria Campbell who were supervised by Prof Mhairi Copland and Dr Helen Wheadon will both defend their theses in February and April retrospectively.

Dr Alison Laing, Clinical Research Fellow/PhD student with Dr Karen Keeshan gave an oral presentation at the Childrens Leukaemia Research-UK meeting in Oxford in September and at the Glasgow Paediatric Research Day in November where she was awarded runner-up for best presentation.  Alison is expecting her second baby in June.

Sarah-Jane Remak - PhD Student (Dr Seth Coffelt lab), presented at the Glasgow-Edinburgh Immune/Metastasis meeting in Edinburgh on 14th November

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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First published: 31 October 2017