Profile
Swetha Vijayakrishnan
My CV
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Education:
I attended primary and secondary school in Chennai, India. I then carried on to do Bachelors in Physics in Chennai, India. I worked hard, and after securing good grades i pursued a Masters in Physics, specializing in condensed matter physics at Pondicherry University, India. After a brief stint of work experience at a research institute in India, I then moved to Glasgow to pursue a Masters in Research in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Glasgow. Following this i continued to do a PhD in Biophysics at the University of Glasgow.
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Qualifications:
Age 15, 10th Board in India (equivalent of Nationals/GCSEs in the UK)
Age 17, 12th Board in India (equivalent of Advanced Highers/A levels in the UK)
Bachelors in Physics (B.Sc Physics)
Masters in Physics (M.Sc Physics)
Masters in Research (M.Res)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) -
Work History:
Worked as a summer intern at a Biology Institute (2 months) during high school.
Worked as a research assistant for 2 years after obtaining my Masters degree (M.Sc).
Worked 1 year on a short postdoc after completing my doctorate (PhD).
Worked as a waitress in a cafe (4 months) after completing my PhD.
Volunteered at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) charity for 8 months after completing my PhD.
Worked on a second postdoc for 4 years on the Flu virus.
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Current Job:
Research Associate
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About Me:
I am a scientist researching viruses.
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Read more
I live in Glasgow with my husband and 2 children. I love photography, food and travel and have been lucky to have globe trotted a fair bit. My favourite food includes Italian, Mexican and Indian.
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Read more
I am a structural biologist who is currently studying virus structure and its interactions with the cell. I work at a prestigious and unique virus institute called the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research at Glasgow, UK. As a trained physicist, I try to apply physics in biology. I use several imaging methods to look at different viruses, what role they play and how they go about infecting their hosts – the cells during infection.
While i have worked on respiratory viruses such as Influenza A (flu) virus, Respiratory Syncytial virus (RSV) for several years, i have more recently been studying viruses that are transmitted via mosquitoes, such as Zika virus, Dengue virus and Yellow fever virus, all of which have caused severe disease resulting in recent epidemics.
As viruses are invisible to the naked eye, I use a special microscope called cryo electron microscope (cryo EM) to see them. I typically freeze my virus under very cold temperatures (-180 deg) and then look at it by cryo EM. This allows me to see how the virus looks and what it is doing inside the cell.
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My Typical Day:
I get up before the sun rises. Then i leave for work. Upon arrival, I cool down the microscope and find my virus samples. After putting the samples inside the microscope, I spend the entire day finding and looking at viruses and cells. Once i finish imaging, i start to analyze the data.
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Read more
My typical day starts with getting up and leaving for work before sunrise. I have to then cool down the microscope (cryo EM) that i plan to use and locate where my virus samples are stored. After that, i put my samples inside the huge microscope to get started. My entire day is then alternated between looking at the virus and cells inside the microscope and answering emails, attending meetings etc. Once i have collected all the images from the microscope i then begin to analyze my measurements and images using specially written programs on the computer.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Fun, Determined, Curious
What did you want to be after you left school?
Electronic Engineer
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Adele
What's your favourite food?
Indian
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Do good science that will help people, travel the world, travel to space
Tell us a joke.
A neutron walks into a bar and asks the bartender how much for a beer. The bartender replies, "For you. No charge".
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