Question: why did you become a cancer resarch scientist in paticular?

Vicky Forster answered on 9 Nov 2013:

Hello!
That is a good question. For me, the reason why I became a cancer research scientist is quite unusual. When I was eight years old, I had leukaemia, which is a cancer of the blood. I had always been interested in science, even before then – but being on the hospital ward and having lots of treatment and operations really focused me on the science behind cancer. I was very inquisitive and I asked the doctors and nurses lots of questions about why I had cancer, and how the drugs were helping get rid of it. After that when I went back to school – I really liked biology, especially the bits where we looked at humans, genetics and diseases. I decided to study biomedical sciences at university and then decided I wanted to do a PhD, and given my personal experience – PhD research into leukaemia and what causes it, was a really interesting topic for me.