Shot in the arm for medical research
A CAREER in medical research can help turn around children’s lives.
Dr Manju Kurian carries out research into children suffering with neurological conditions.
After studying medicine at the University of Cambridge, she trained in paediatric neurology at hospitals in Dublin, Belfast and Birmingham.
She says: ‘I started to suspect that some of my patients labelled with having cerebral palsy had been misdiagnosed.’
So Dr Kurian, 42, completed a PhD on the subject at the University of Birmingham in 2010.
She is now a consultant paediatric neurologist and works as a researcher at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and as a doctor at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Dr Kurian says: ‘Using genetic mapping, I discovered a new disease, genetically similar to cerebral palsy, called dopamine transporter deficiency syndrome.
‘ I relocated to UCL Institute of Child Health in London to develop treatments for it.’
She adds: ‘If you want a career as a researcher, take a master’s degree to explore your area of interest and gain laboratory techniques, and then a PhD with a mentor with a relevant track record.’
Dr Kurian was recently awarded a L’OréalUNESCO For Women In Science fellowship. James Windridge, regional manager at science recruiter SRG, says: ‘ Much medical research is NHS and university-led, but there are private sector jobs.’ Medical research scientists with a PhD may start on around £25,000 to £35,000, with senior researchers and university professors earning £ 50,000 to £70,000-plus.
VISIT prospects.ac.uk, newscientist.co.uk and healthcareers.nhs.uk. For details of the L’OréalUNESCO For Women In Science fellowship, see womeninscience.co.uk