National Postdoc Awareness Week
Monday 20th September to Friday 24th September 2021 marks this years’ National Postdoc Awareness Week. This National Postdoc Awareness Week, we want to highlight the research stories of some of our amazing postdoctoral scientists here in Manchester.
We speak to Dr Tania Seale from the Manchester Lymphoma Group, and Dr Abigail Bryce-Atkinson from the Advanced Radiotherapy Group both based in the Division of Cancer Sciences, and Dr Bettina Wingelhofer from the Leukaemia Biology group at the Cancer Research Manchester Institute.
The following stories are shortened versions of our new Researcher Stories, where our postdocs each share their experiences and their numerous research projects along with their advice for those wanting to apply for a postdoctoral position.
The Team Science setting here in Manchester has been really beneficial to my research, and the interactions between clinical and non-clinical researchers within the team, and the strong link with The Christie is a great asset.
Dr Abigail Bryce-Atkinson
Postdoc in The Advanced Radiotherapy Group, Division of Cancer Sciences
Dr Abigail Bryce-Atkinson
Postdoc title: Using image-based data mining to identify brain regions correlated with radiation damage
Type: Non-clinical
Research group: Advanced Radiotherapy Group
Supervised by: Marianne Aznar
My postdoc position is based within the Advanced Radiotherapy Group and is focused on radiotherapy as a treatment for childhood cancer. The hope of this research is to use our findings to inform radiotherapy clinical practice by identifying regions where radiation dose should be avoided to minimise radiation damage for future patients.
My first postdoc was funded by Friends of Rosie, and my current postdoc is part of the BRAINatomy project funded by Stand up to Cancer (SU2C) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) in collaboration with the University Medical Centre Groningen (The Netherlands) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (Memphis, USA).
The Team Science setting here in Manchester has been really beneficial to my research, and the interactions between clinical and non-clinical researchers within the team, and the strong link with The Christie are a great asset.
My day-to-day work is computational based and also includes supervision of some Master’s student projects. I collaborate with St. Jude who have world leading data collection on the long-term follow up of children treated with radiotherapy.
My advice to people wanting to transition from a PhD to a Postdoc would be to be open with your supervisors about your career goals and what you are interested in researching. They have great networks, so be sure to take full advantage of them!
Read more about Abigail’s research in our Researcher Story.
I've worked in Haematological Oncology for the entirety of my career, and so the outcomes of people with blood cancer are really important to me. I consider my research journey to be part of a wider healthcare structure and my ultimate goal is about improving the experience and outcomes for patients.
Dr Tania Seale
Postdoc in The Manchester Lymphoma Group, Division of Cancer Sciences
Dr Tania Seale
Postdoctoral projects: Late effects in Hodgkin lymphoma survivors and specifically looking at the potential for lung cancer screening in this group of survivors
Exploring pathways in the follow up of Hodgkin lymphoma survivors including the use of remote monitoring with bio markers
Establishing PPIE capacity for the Manchester Lymphoma Group through the EMERGE group
Type: Mixed method
Research group: The Manchester Lymphoma Group Division of Cancer Sciences
Group Leaders: Prof. John Radford and Dr Kim Linton
My Postdoc
In February 2020, I joined the Manchester Lymphoma Group to work alongside some very prominent clinical researchers. The group’s main interest is in the late effects of treatment for lymphoma and I am lucky to work across a number of different projects in this area.
I was attracted to this role as I have a background in blood cancers and this role combines both my clinical interest and experience in blood cancer as well as my academic knowledge and the skills I gained completing my PhD.
I’ve joined a very dynamic group, which is fantastic, and it’s great to work alongside a group of such motivated clinicians and researchers. I feel part of a much wider group of researchers who are all share the same collective ethos.
Our research group has worked hard to include the lymphoma patients’ voice in our research. We have recognised that we could do more here though and I have set up a Patient, Public Involvement and Engagement Group (PPIE) to help underpin the work and strategic objectives of the group.
For those wanting to apply for a PhD, my ‘sound’ advice would be to look at a group’s publication history first, but also look at how the team interact and how happy they all are working together.
Being able to work within a good team where you feel supported and valued will hold you in good stead to complete your PhD and gain a great experience and good memories. I was very lucky to have had that experience and wish it for other PhD students.
Read more about Tania and her establishing the EMERGE PPIE group.
Manchester is great for Postdoctoral positions and the university has a lot to offer in terms of career development. I am so thankful to them for providing me with my first experiences of teaching and also for providing me with such a comprehensive network of researchers.
Dr Bettina Wingelhofer
Postdoc in the Leukaemia Biology group, Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute
Dr Bettina Wingelhofer
Postdoc title: Identification of leukaemia-specific functionally active enhancers in acute myeloid leukaemia
Type: Non-clinical
Research group: Leukaemia Biology, Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute
Lead supervisor: Prof. Tim Somervaille
My current project involves looking at the process whereby Acute Myeloid Leukaemia blocks differentiation of haematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow which results in a lack of myeloid cells that normally fight bacterial infections, defend the body against parasites and prevent the spread of tissue damage.
I hope to find proteins that regulate the activity of these elements and see whether we can target them in patients with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia to restore differentiation of their haematopoietic stem cells. This would reduce the need for chemotherapy and enable us to develop patient specific treatments with fewer side effects which are more specific to their type of disease.
Day-to-day I am in the lab and completely involved in the science and data analysis. Last year I became quite interested in teaching and I have now started delivering a series of lectures to students at the university.
Manchester is great for Postdoctoral positions and the university has a lot to offer in terms of career development. I am so thankful to them for providing me with my first experiences of teaching and also for providing me with such a comprehensive network of researchers.
For those looking for a postdoctoral position, I think the really important thing is to start applying early, about 9 months before you would like to start. Secondly, I would say that you need to make sure that the lab does science that you absolutely love. Postdoc positions are hard so it’s important that you are really invested in the science.
Read more about Bettina’s research experiences in our Researcher Story.