Coffee Break Science

Dr Rouchelle Srinanjan-Rothwell, NIHR clinical lecturer at the University of Cambridge, talks about her recently published IVORY trial, in which the Cambridge team investigated anti-inflammatory therapy using repurposed IL-2 drug to treat acute coronary syndromesYou can find the study here: Anti-inflammatory therapy with low-dose IL-2 in acute coronary syndromes: a randomized phase 2 trial | Nature MedicineIn this episode, we also hear from Mark Andrews, recently treated at CUH for a heart attack, and who took part in the trial.Let us know what you would like to hear from next by commenting!

In Episode 3, I'm joined by award-winning science writer, public speaker and broadcaster, Dr Kat Arney. She takes us on the evolutionary journey of her career from being a geneticist in the lab, to becoming a bestselling author, while providing a new lens on cancer. You can buy Rebel Cell wherever you source your books: Rebel Cell by Dr Kat Arney | WaterstonesContact Ahsen with feedback, questions, or if you're interested in sharing your story, at au280@cam.ac.uk or @ahsenonfilm on Instagram

Welcome back to Coffee Break Science Season 2! In this episode I'm joined by Christen Williams, co-founder of cancer prevention charity BRCA Chat who support people navigating a germline genetic mutation that significantly increases risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers. The expert scientific landscape is then beautifully set by Dr Siddhartha Kar, associate professor of clinical epidemiology at the Early Cancer Institute, University of Cambridge. You can find out more about BRCA chat on their website: https://brcachat.com/Siddhartha's latest research: https://www.earlycancer.cam.ac.uk/dr-siddhartha-karhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12916-025-04543-8https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/alcohol-breast-cancer-symptoms-cause-b2884770.htmlContact Ahsen with feedback, questions or if you're interested in sharing your story, contact her at au280@cam.ac.uk, or @ahsenonfilm on Instagram

In the final episode of Season 1, we are joined by the phenomenal Dr Amina Yonis, a research scientist by background who became a Youtuber with over 200K subscribers and set up her own academic consultancy business: ThePageDoctor We discuss what Amina loved about academia, and what made her start her YouTube channel which has since grown into multiple other streams of income resulting in her eventually leaving academia to pursue her business and social media presence full time. Hope you enjoy our discussion! (23) Dr Amina Yonis - YouTube

In this episode, I am joined by Dr Elham Sahafi, a dentist who became a scientist through a drive to make a difference to the lives of Head and Neck Cancer Patients. We talk about her incredible PhD research which found EGFR as a molecular biomarker for worsened prognosis for HNCSCC. You can find her publication mentioned in the episode here: EGFR overexpression increases radiotherapy response in HPV-positive head and neck cancer through inhibition of DNA damage repair and HPV E6 downregulation - ScienceDirect We also talk about the challenge of going through pregnancy, miscarriage and motherhood during a PhD, and how Elham has managed to handle them all. You can connect with Elham on LinkedIn: (22) Elham Sahafi | LinkedIn

In this episode, we explore Dr Heather Fitzke's diverse career journey from social anthropology to public health & epidemiology, to a PhD and now post-doc in medical imaging in the field of neurogastroenterology. We explore the beauty and perils of working for the public sector, and academia in particular, and discover how Heather steered herself into the STEM field.  If you work for a university, be sure to sign up for University and College Union: UCU - Join UCU Did you know that PhD students in the UK are twice as likely than other educated members of the general public to report symptoms of depression or anxiety, according to a recent study published in Nature by Chris Woolston? 71% of PhD students have at least mild depression, while 74% have some level of anxiety. Please speak to your GP or university counselling service if you are struggling with your mental health!

Today I am joined by Dr Hannah Thompson, who is a PhD scientist by training, but has now worked in many start-ups across product, business, operations and people functions. She has worked on software products that monitor health and enable precision medicine and clinical trials. We speak about how to navigate different jobs, not with the aim of finding the 'perfect' job, but rather, with the aim of increasing awareness of what you enjoy/ don't enjoy in a job to land a better next job. We speak about digital nomadism as a scientist-turned product manager.  She is running a 'Become a Science Product Manager' Course with Wilbe, giving scientists insight into what it means to be a Product Manager at a Science Company and what key skills are needed: Home | GoPotato helping people who want to leave academia with: CV, financial planning, brand, interview energy, negotiation, finding their passion, storytelling and more  And for fun she’s starting a tiktok where she’ll dress up as various potato snacks and share career advice for scientists - @gopotatoteam Hannah Thompson, PhD | LinkedIn

In this episode, we explore Dr Atiya Sarmin's transition from a Bioengineering PhD to product management in a scale-up company using AI to improve drug discovery pipelines. We discuss the challenge that academia poses for women from BAME backgrounds, and how Atiya dealt with these challenges throughout her career so far.  If you would like to find out more about Atiya, or connect with her, you can find her on Linkedin: (9) Atiya Sarmin, PhD | LinkedIn