Profile – Sanger Zone – Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Education:

Grangefield School, 1991-1996. Bede College, 1996-1998
Qualifications:

University of Sheffield, Biomedical Science, 1998-2002. University of Edinburgh, PhD in Statistical Genetics, 2003-2006.
Work History:

Univeristy of Oxford, 2007-2009. Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, 2009-present.
Current Job:

Autoimmune disease genetics and statistical genetics

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I was always interested in science at school, I liked coming up with ideas and thinking of ways to test them. When I got to University I quickly realised that I didn’t actually enjoy working in laboratories, I found working to the protocols quite restricting (and I wasn’t very good at it). I had always enjoyed working on computers and so I took a 1 year course in statistical genetics and found that this allowed me to perfectly combine my enjoyment of biology with my love for computing. And I haven’t really looked back since!
My Typical Day:

My typical day goes something like: bus to work, tea, read and reply to emails, chat with teammates about our projects, research, lunch, seminar, telephone chats with collaborators, tea, research, bus home.
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The typical day is quite varied but my favourite bits are chatting with colleagues about science and sitting in front of my computer doing research. These days, I don’t always get the time I would like to spend doing my own research. However, when deadlines are approaching I often clear my calendar of other things and spend 3-4 days doing nothing but research – those are good days!
What I'd do with the prize money:

By comparing the genomes of people with Crohn’s disease to those from people without Crohn’s we try to identify the small genetic changes that can lead to the disease.

Carl Anderson