Profile
Victoria Cox
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About Me:
I’m a research scientist and I study infectious diseases and global health. My main interest is diseases which are spread to humans by mosquitoes.
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Hi! I’m Victoria. I’m a researcher studying infectious diseases spread to humans by mosquitoes. I’m from Leicester but I’ve moved down south to London where I’ve lived for the past few years. I love vegan cooking, running, video games, and talking to people about all things nerdy.
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My Work:
I study how diseases are spread to humans by mosquitoes, and how climate and the environment affect who is most at risk of catching these diseases. I use a combination of maths, biology and computer science to do this.
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I use code to make models (computer simulations) of how a virus called dengue virus is spread. This helps me learn how different things affect how much the virus spreads, and where in the world it spreads the most. We can use what we learn to predict where the virus will spread in the future and how we can try to stop this.
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My Typical Day:
After a couple of coffees and breakfast in the morning I sit down at my computer to work. I read scientific papers, write code, look at data and make graphs – I really liking making maps to look at data in visual ways. I have meetings with my supervisor and other team members where they suggest cool new ideas to try if I’m stuck on something! I always talk to other scientists at work to find out what exciting things they are working on.
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I get up early (ish), then have breakfast before rushing out the door to get to work.
At work I have a coffee in the kitchen and catch up with my colleagues – they all study infectious diseases (including ebola, HIV, the flu and chlamydia) and they come from all over the world. It’s always an interesting chat!
I sit down at my desk to work where I write computer code to make models (computer simulations) of how a virus spreads. I write my research into scientific papers and reports and make presentations to communicate what we have learnt to other scientists and to the general public. Communicating science is one of the most important things a scientist does.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Make video profiles of scientists talking about their jobs and how they use science/maths/ICT to show school students, particularly young girls, what exciting jobs you can do if you continue studying these subjects at A-level and beyond.
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Education:
I went to Redmoor High School and John Cleveland College in Leicestershire. I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford and I’m doing my PhD at Imperial College London.
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Qualifications:
8 GCSEs and 1 BTEC at middle school then at sixth-form I did Biology, Maths and Chemistry A levels and Anthropology and Psychology AS levels. I did biochemistry at university and then a Master’s degree and PhD in infectious disease epidemiology.
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Work History:
When I was younger I had part-time jobs as a cleaner, waitress and shop-assistant. After university I worked on summer schools helping students from state schools to apply to top universities. More recently I worked as a research assistant studying malaria and how we can reduce its spread. Now I work as a researcher at Imperial College London.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
board-game loving epidemiologist
What did you want to be after you left school?
A forensic scientist
Who is your favourite singer or band?
The Arctic Monkeys
What's your favourite food?
Fajitas
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To speak more languages, be faster at running, and more comfortable taking risks
Tell us a joke.
I wanted to write a joke about elements of the periodic table ... but all the good ones Argon
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