• Question: Who is your idol / inspiration ?

    Asked by Potterhead.x to Juhi on 5 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Juhi Gupta

      Juhi Gupta answered on 5 Mar 2018:

      I have been inspired by many scientists! But if I had to pick one, then I would go for Dr Maggie Aderin-pocock, who inspired me to choose science subjects for A-Level, after attending a local GCSE Live talk.

Comments

  • Photo: Gemma

    Gemma commented on :

    I’m inspired by scientists who do great science but also use their spotlight to do good and speak out on important issues too. So, Mary-Claire King would be one who stands out for me: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary-Claire_King.
    It’d be hard to be a female geneticist and not feel inspired by the intellect, grit, determination, and skill of Rosalind Franklin: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09rzm9y https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin
    Amongst those I have met, and worked with, I’ve been very inspired by:
    1) Beth Crawford: https://www.nsgc.org/page/2016-leadership because she really puts her patients first, thinks big and outside the box to get things done on a shoe-string, and is just so collaborative in her style which is refreshing as science is very competitive. Beth mentored me when I was switching direction in my own career, and that made a big difference to me.
    2) In the NHS, it has got to be Sue Hill, who is so very inspiring in the way that she has managed to get a very large organisation to completely change direction and bring in cutting edge genetic science (the 100,000 genomes project: https://www.genomicsengland.co.uk/the-100000-genomes-project/) to patient care over a really short time-frame: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Hill.
    3) Similarly, in Australia, I really admire the way Clara Gaff is really bringing genetic science into patient care, and creating evidence for how effective it is as she goes along: https://www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/display/person6340.
    4) In terms of career development, I have been inspired by Kelly Ormond – she does not have a PhD and yet is right at the top in the genetics field in America right now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsYm72fzCo8. I have learnt a lot from her in terms of seizing opportunities when they come up and not being intimated by others. She is someone who really “leans in” and that is very inspiring to watch – they had to change the rules at Stanford about who could be faculty just for her!
    5) Another person who is carving their own area related to Genetics Communication is Anna Middleton: http://www.sanger.ac.uk/people/directory/middleton-anna. She is very entrepreneurial and creative in her work.
    So generally, I’m inspired by those who do great scientific work, who think creatively outside the box, who are collaborative rather than simply competitive, who remember why they doing science and who funds it, who are generous enough to help other people along with their careers, and who use their platform to talk out about important issues in society.

  • Photo: Matt

    Matt commented on :

    Can I answer too? I spent quite a while thinking about this, I think I don’t necessarilly have one that inspires me to do my science. I of course admire different people and as I read about peole or find out about their lives more and more get added to my list. I think for science Darwin, Faraday and Dobzhansky at the moment. Darwin and Dobzhansky obviously for me for their contributions to Biology/Genetics/ the modern synthesis. I am relatively new to this area myself and to I am quite impressed that Darwin was basically able to make biology a science just by pariently observing the natural world throughout his life and thinking about it. I started reading on the origin of species and was struck by how he very simply and clearly tried just to explain what ideas he had and how he got to them. I think his personality comes through to a great extent in the book and he seems like I would have liked to meet him. Also I remember reading that it took him a while to find his place in life, and that particularly resonates and inspires me. Faraday also was an amazing scientist who basically discovered much of what we know about electromagnetism but didn’t come from a traditional background for a scientist of the time http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/faraday_michael.shtml
    When I was younger my inspirations were mainly musicians like John Lennon and Beethoven, I have always liked creative things and people and think creativity has an important part to play in all parts of life but especially science.
    On a daily basis I am inspired to do science by nature itself. When you study it and see how you can build up a picture piece by piece of how life works and its interaction with the environment shapes its evolutionary path etc. its really quite amazing.