Nathan Simpson

What year did you graduate?

2016

What is your current role?

I’m a PhD student in the University’s Immunity Infection department.

How did you decide to take your current role?

I actually kind of fell into it – I was spending a year after graduating to see what I could do with ‘just’ a BSc and ended up volunteering at the lab I’d worked with for my bachelor project. My supervisor came to me one day saying that he’d put a project up for a studentship and he thought I should apply, so I did and here I am!

Can you describe a typical day?

I get in to labs at 9 – 9.30 and check my emails. If it’s a Monday, I’ll sort my schedule out for the week and if it’s not I’ll refer to the previously sorted schedule. My time at the office tends to be a handful of hours in the lab setting up/carrying out some kind of assay and the rest of it scouring literature trying to figure out what to do next.

What do you enjoy about your role?

There’s something very fulfilling about being the one to plan everything out and see it come to fruition. It’s a marked departure from school or University where I was just doing what someone told me to.

What do you find challenging in your current role?

The downside is there’s a lot of uncertainty. Of course there are people I can go to for advice, but ultimately the decision is mine to make, and sometimes it’s hard to tell if I’m making the ‘right’ one, or if there is a right one at all.

Are there changes occurring in your sector?

I work with antimicrobial peptides as a potential source of novel therapeutics to treat things that are resistant to regular medicine. To be frank, I feel like the spotlight’s been moving in a different direction for a while now, both within and outside of the field of peptide science.

There are other, newer, more exciting methods of treating drug-resistant bacteria and most groups are paying more attention to treating chronic illnesses like cancer and diabetes.

I’ll be honest, it’s a little disheartening to see everybody abandoning ship, but it’s easy to understand why – antimicrobial peptides can be pretty hard to work with. Still, our lab is giving it one last shot and the skills I’m picking up along the way can be used in a lot of different fields.

What advice would you give to a current BMS student at St George’s who was keen to get in
to a similar area of work as you?

Make sure you know why you’re doing it. A PhD is a pretty big commitment, and there are probably going to be times where you just don’t want to.

A lot of people feel like they have to get the qualification without really knowing why, and that won’t really sustain you for a 4-year stretch. It’s best to have a solid reason to keep on going.

Which aspects of your degree are relevant for your current role?

Mainly the practical stuff more than anything theoretical – things like analysis data, critical thinking and working in a team are much more relevant day-to-day than anything I learned about muscarinic receptors or Starling’s Law. Although that stuff kills at pub quizzes so I see it as money well spent.

If you could go back to your time at St George’s, what would you do differently?

I’m not sure if there’s anything I would do differently. Looking back, I feel like I struck a pretty decent work-life balance, made some very good friends, and come away with a strong degree. I guess if anything, I’d try not to worry so much about how things are going to turn out!