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Dr. Cathy Merry
Patterson Institute, University of Manchester
After moving from the North West to a small village in Oxfordshire I attended the local comprehensive, Chipping Norton High School. I studied a variety of subjects at GCSE level but concentrated on Science at A-level, studying Maths, Biology and Chemistry. I was lucky enough to get into my first choice of University (just!) and went to Manchester Uni. to study for a Biochemistry B.Sc. I really enjoyed the course, although sharing a house with three Art Historians made me realise just how hard my chosen degree was. As part of the degree I spent a year in California working for a biotechnology company. This was great fun; I escaped the dull rain of Manchester and lived in the Malibu hills, heading off to the coast for the weekends. The project also allowed me to discover my love for research, and helped me decide that this was what I really wanted to do for a career.
After graduating from the B.Sc. I started a Ph.D. working at the Cancer Research Campaign laboratories in Manchester. During the project I realised that I really enjoyed working for a charity, and the location of our lab, right next to one of the largest cancer hospitals in the country, helped us to focus on what we were researching. The Ph.D. was very hard work, but also great fun; I travelled to many meetings to present my work, visiting Belgium, Sweden, America and Japan (as well as Birmingham and Dundee…) By the end of the Ph.D. I was able to publish my work, and to write a patent based around our novel analytical method. I am now working as a Research Fellow of the University of Manchester, still based in the (now) Cancer Research UK labs in Manchester. The focus of my work has shifted somewhat to now include the use of embryonic stem cells as a model system to study human cancer.
I really love what I do, although there are still many things about my job which I hope will change. I am lucky to work with some really fun people, and we often meet socially outside of the lab. To de-stress from the lab I enjoy walking in the Peak District which is very close to where I live. I'm just learning to rock-climb, which will hopefully allow me to see my favourite hills from a whole new perspective!
