To celebrate International Women’s Day, we spoke to one of our inspirational colleagues, Dr Lianne Kearsley-Fleet. Lianne has published many research papers on BSRBR-RA data, and is now Co-Lead Investigator with the UK JIA Biologics Register.  We asked her some questions on her journey to research.

What did you study at which University?

I actually studied at the Royal Veterinary College in London – firstly BioVeterinary Science, and then went back to do a Masters in Veterinary Epidemiology, a combined course with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). This then led to my PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Manchester working with arthritis datasets.

What, in all of your research in RA, are you most proud of?

I am most proud of some work I led looking why some people have arthritis that does not respond to multiple different biologic therapies. I was particularly proud of this work because it answered a question many patients had, it was published in a highly valued scientific journal, but more importantly, was highlighted in the national rheumatoid arthritis charity, NRAS, magazine for patients.

What advice would you give a high school age girl who is looking to start a career in scientific research?

If you like science and numbers, then scientific research is perfect for you. There is such a variety of things you can do in various science areas but it is all exciting. I had no idea at school that I could analyse health data for a living (I originally wanted to be a vet). However, after not getting the right grades and doing a different University course to the one I had planned, I realised that experiments, and analysing data, were what I truly enjoyed doing.

Related