Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Cancer and Genomics
What is your research background and current field of research?
I describe myself as someone who has a broad range of interests and likes to take multidisciplinary approaches to scientific questions. I studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge for my undergraduate degree, graduating in 2016. Following this, I moved to Birmingham to work as a research technician on a project which modelled late-onset neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s disease) in the fruit-fly Drosophila melanogaster. Inspired by questions I had during this project, I undertook a PhD in the Tuxworth lab studying the rare neurodegenerative disease ataxia telangiectasia. I am continuing this work in my current role as a postdoctoral research fellow, where I have broadened my techniques away from the fruit fly into neuronal stem cells, primary neurons, and more computational approaches such as bioinformatics and Shiny app development. I also have a strong passion for education and am always looking for new opportunities to get involved in teaching in a wide variety of contexts.
Which BEAR Services have been most helpful to you in your research?
Of the variety of BEAR Services on offer, four have been particularly useful to me:
- The Research Data Storage (RDS): We generate large files during our research (e.g., some microscopy images can be 1GB each; fastq files from RNAseq can be multiple gigabytes), so the storage space offered by the RDS has been very necessary. Knowing that the data is securely backed-up eases worry (I have had too many past incidents of files being corrupted or accidentally deleted); being able to share files with colleagues and students makes collaboration much easier.
- BlueBEAR: I have used BlueBEAR extensively as a post-doc. One example (of many): we used deep-learning software called DeepLabCut for posture analysis of Drosophila larvae on a pain sensitivity assay. I was amazed to discover that the DeepLabCut module was already installed on BlueBEAR. It enabled us to create an automated larval tracking workflow which would have been impossible on our local machines.
- The BEAR Portal: I frequently use the RStudio app on the BEAR Portal when running RNAseq alignment and feature counting using the RSubread package. This both speeds the process up (as I can use the faster BEAR CPU cores) and means my laptop is free for me to use (rather than being locked into a 12-hour plus alignment!).
- The software carpentries training workshops: These were where I first encountered programming way back during my technician years. They demystified many of the barriers I had with coding and really inspired me to learn more computational techniques which I continue to use and learn more about to this day.
How widespread do you think BEAR Services are known in your School and how do you plan to spread the word?
The RDS and BlueBEAR are clearly the most well-known BEAR services, whereas I think some of the BEAR training opportunities are less well-known. For example, there is now a workshop on “coding with AI” which I think most people who work in Cancer and Genomics would benefit from, especially as we increasingly work with AI and big data. Cancer and Genomics is one of the largest departments in the University and at the time of writing I believe I am one of only two BEAR champions here, which may highlight the need to spread the word of BEAR services more widely across the department.
How can researchers in your School/College contact you?
I am readily contactable by email (m.taylor.1@bham.ac.uk) and in-person either in the lab (IBR West WX-2.34) or write-up room (WX-2.31).
What's an interesting fact about you?
I spend most of my time outside of work playing nursery rhymes on the ukelele for my 2-year old daughter. My favourite fictional book series is Remembrance of Earth's Past by Liu Cixin; my favourite non-fiction books are Musicophilia by the late Oliver Sacks, and Do No Harm by Henry Marsh.