#79 Madina Wane

This week’s PhDetails #79 is with Madina Wane who is currently doing her PhD at Imperial College London. Madina first studied Biochemistry for her undergrad at Imperial College London before going straight onto a 1+3 Masters, PhD programme on Infection and Immunity funded by Wellcome, also at Imperial. Currently Madina is at the last stage of her PhD, writing her thesis. Her PhD project has focused on using zebrafish to develop new ways to study how the immune system responds to viruses. More specifically, she has tried to understand how the immune system of zebrafish gills compares to its functional counterpart in mammals - the lungs. You can find Madina on twitter @madina_wane

Well let’s start off talking about completely unscientific stuff: What is your favourite band/musical artist pre 1980?

One of my favourites are Simon & Garfunkel - I've been listening to the album 'Bridge Under Troubled Water' since I was a child, it's a timeless classic!

Favourite band/musical artist post 1980?

Currently I'm loving Nao, a funk artist from London. I went to see her at Somerset House this summer and she was incredible.

Favourite movie?

One of my recent favourite films is The Farewell. It's based on a true story about a Chinese family who decide not to tell their grandmother that she is terminally ill, whilst concocting a spontaneous wedding as an opportunity to see her before she passes. It's a wonderfully relatable story of how family, grief, and culture intersect. As someone who grew up between multiple cultures, I was especially drawn to the main character who struggles to combine the Chinese and American parts of her heritage.

Do you listen to podcasts? What are some of your favourites?

Absolutely! I listen to a mix of comedy and more serious ones including: Potterless, The Guilty Feminist, In the Dark, and The Tip-Off.

Where do you study and who are your supervisors?

Imperial College London and my supervisors are Professor Maggie Dallman and Dr Laurence Bugeon.

What year of your PhD are you in?

4th (and final!). I’m finished in the lab and writing up my thesis.

Who’s giving you the money – and for how long?

The Wellcome Trust - I'm on a 1+3 studentship which means they funded my Masters and 3 years of my PhD.

Do you have any publications?

I have one publication from an undergraduate summer placement, and one from my current lab. Both are in the fields of immunology. You can find them HERE and HERE

Did you do a masters – where was it and was it about?

My Masters was part of my 1+3 PhD programme so I also did it at Imperial. It involved 3 research projects on the topic of infection and immunity.

Do you do fieldwork?

Nope - I'm a strictly laboratory based girl!

What are the best and worst bits about your labwork?

My favourite part is microscopy - the visuals in biology are incredibly beautiful and give you so much data (if you know how to analyse your images!). The worst part was having to clean zebrafish tanks - I was sprayed with dirty fish water more times than I care to remember.

What is the most bodged piece of equipment you have had to use during field/labwork – did it work?

We have these pretty old gel electrophoresis tanks in the lab. You’d setup them up really carefully and finally leave for 30 mins or so only to find that they’d stopped working...again.

What one piece of advice would you give to a masters student applying to PhDs now?

Don’t underestimate the lab culture. Talk to current members of the lab away from your potential supervisor and look out for any bad signs (lots of people leaving the lab, any signs of conflict). Your project will have good and bad moments but without a supportive work environment your PhD is going to be much much harder.

How often do you meet with your supervisors?

Usually once a week for our whole lab meetings.

What supervisor traits are important to you?

Providing constructive feedback especially on the direction of the project, being able to provide support as well as independence, and having realistic expectations.

What do you think are the worst supervisor traits?

Oh there are a lot haha! Beyond actually being abusive (it enrages me how often this happen), supervisors who don’t give you any space, who are very difficult to reach, and who don’t value work-life balance are unlikely to help you stay motivated during your PhD.

In one sentence what is your PhD about?

Developing new methods of studying zebrafish so we can learn how immune systems respond to respiratory viral infections (like the flu!).

What has been your academic highlight of the last year?

I had an amazing time at an academic conference in Boston in July. It was my first time going abroad for a conference, and despite going on my own I made lots of new friends. I also learnt a huge amount on topics both outside and related to my PhD project. I was able to present and get useful feedback on my work and even won a poster prize! I highly recommend going to an international conference at least once and choosing one that’s not too big so you can make genuine connections with people.

Have you had an academic lowpoint of the last year – if so what happened?

To be truthful, my academic lowpoints were mostly in second year where it felt like my project wasn’t really going anywhere. By the time I started my 3rd year I could see the finish line and I was mostly trying to wrap things up. Only having a year left was scary but also very motivating to make the most of the data and the time I had left.

Which academic idol/scientist have you met?

I wouldn’t describe anyone as an idol but I’m grateful to have collaborated with some incredibly smart and supportive scientists. Dr Cecilia Johansson and Professor Wendy Barclay (both at Imperial College) have made some really valuable contributions to my project and given me some stellar advice.

Which academic idol/scientist would you most like to meet?

I recently read about Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, a Congolese doctor who discovered Ebola but wasn’t given proper credit for it. Not only did he identify what was an uncharacterised disease at the time, he has since developed a treatment and championed the development of a new Institute in Kinshasa. This means that Congolese scientists can now study Ebola in their own country rather than having to rely on Western countries. What a hero!

Who has been your academic role model/inspiration and why?

The post-doc in my lab, Dr Marie-Christine Ramel, is an incredibly smart, efficient, and humble scientist. Not to mention, she’s super supportive and an all-round wonderful person! She has been a really great friend throughout the PhD and I’ve learnt a lot from her.

What hours do you typically work?

When I was in the lab I tried to keep to an 8 hour day, usually working 10am-6pm. Academia offers a lot of flexibility so I could shorten and extend my hours as I needed, for example, if I had a 12 hour experiment, or if I wanted to do some volunteering outside of my PhD.

How do you avoid procrastinating?

A skill I have yet to master….I guess keeping busy helps!

What motivates you in your day to day PhD life?

Knowing that I have a deadline. No, in all seriousness, having a supportive lab and great friends in my department has been so important.

What do you do when you’re not working – how do you balance it with your PhD?

For the last 7 years I’ve been helping run my university's student cinema, Imperial Cinema. We’re a group of students who put on weekly film screenings in a big auditorium, functioning as a genuine cinema. It’s a really rewarding activity and I’ve learnt some incredibly useful skills for my career. Last year I also became a mentor for IntoUniversity who work with school students to help them gain the skills and confidence to pursue university or other career options. I have also been involved in science outreach and initiatives to improve equality, diversity, and inclusion in science.

Doing extracurricular activities actually helps me manage and structure my time because I know there are certain times when I’ll be busy. I intend to continue this as I write my thesis.

If a genie could grant you one wish to help with your PhD what would you wish for?

Give me the information from the thousands of paper I have yet to read haha!

What would be your dream job?

I stand by my childhood dream to work as an artist at Pixar.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I hope I am still contributing to science whether through research or through policy work. I also hope to have made more progress in championing causes that tackle inequality in the world, perhaps through starting my own non-profit initiative or campaign.

One word to sum up your future in academia:

Uncertain.

What do you want to achieve outside of academia in the coming year?

Learn to drive (finally)!

What essential tool hardware/software could you not do your PhD without?

The amazing microscopes in my building. Shout out to the FILM facility who take care of a lot of these and have given me some really great training.

Where is somewhere you would like to work in the future?

San Diego (California) has been on my list since I visited it a few years ago - dreamy beaches and people were really welcoming. Not to mention they do a lot of great science!

Do you have a favourite organism?

I’ve not worked on them, or even come across them in my studies, but bobtail squids are the most adorable little sea creatures. Check out Sarah McAnulty’s twitter (HERE) and you’ll see what I mean...

Are there any social interactions/meetings which have enhanced your PhD experience?

Our department sponsors fortnightly social events where each lab takes turn to host drinks and nibbles for the rest of the department. It’s a fun way to finish the week, catch up with friends and get to know a few new faces.

If you could change one serious and one silly thing about your group/department structure what would it be?

Serious: the light and temperature of my building. Sounds silly but the labs once got to 14C, it’s hilariously depressing. There’s a campaign - support the cause.

Silly: have a lab meeting at the London Aquarium - we’re a zebrafish lab, gotta stay on brand.

What major question in your subject area is yet to be addressed – why is it important and why isn’t anyone addressing it?

There are few studies asking whether zebrafish develop immunological memory the way mammals do. Immunological memory is when your immune system retains the capacity to respond to something as a result of a previous exposure. This is how vaccines work! This is probably a neglected area because of a lack of tools for zebrafish, but also because we don’t have a full understanding of immunological memory even in mammals.