Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership PhD Student

Tell us about your background

Hi, my name is Annalise Garrison and I'm a PhD student on the Midlands integrative Biosciences Training Partnership or the MIBTP, which is a doctoral training programme. I'm also currently an intern at the ABPI.

I began my scientific career in at the University of Galway in Ireland, where I did my honours bachelor's degree in pharmacology and a master's degree in regenerative medicine.

Last year I began my PhD at Aston University, which is a BBS RC and university co-funded projects on investigating the mechanisms of tissue fibrosis.

Tell us about your PhD project

So for my main research projects, I'm looking at the most exciting cell type you've probably never heard of, which are called pericites. So pericites are a form of mesenchymal stem cells, which cover every blood vessel in the body and provide support.

However, in fibrosis, which is when the wound healing process goes wrong, and leads to excessive scarring and tissue damage, and in severe cases, organ failure, these stem cells and cell types become more troublesome.

It's estimated that about 50% of deaths in the developed world are due to fibrosis. For example, after a heart attack. So therefore, my research is of importance as it aims to assess if we can potentially prevent or reverse fibrosis by torturing these pericites.

What prompted you to pursue a PhD project which included a pharmaceutical industry partner?

So my PhD programme, the MIBTP includes professional internship for PhD students also known as a PIPS.

This is a three month professional placement that allows me to develop non-research based skills at an external host organisation.

So I joined the ABPI for my internship to coordinate this year as industry academic links interactive reports, where I had roles in data analysis, coordinating submissions of videos and quotes, presenting the findings internally and to member organisations and also providing layouts and designing web pages for the final launch.

So apart from my industry placement, I've also been involved in numerous collaborative projects as part of my PhD.

So for example, I did a clinical diagnostics project on cytokine profiling of serum from COVID-19 patients at the universities, hospitals, Coventry and Warwickshire Sure, which was in collaboration with Warwick Medical School, and also the NHS.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced your experience?

So the pandemic has affected my experience in multiple ways, I finished my bachelor's degree, I completed my entire master's degree and I also began my PhD in different lockdowns through online learning.

So this meant relying on technology including video calls in order to connect with my colleagues and with the academics.

But importantly, I think it taught me some really great lessons on wellbeing, on resilience and of the importance of driving scientific research forward.

So where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

In five years, time, I will have hopefully completed my PhD after nine years in academia.

So therefore, I'm interested in joining the industry or collaborating with industry on various projects.

In industry or through an academic role in order to gain more exposure and ultimately to continue driving research forward and to expand our knowledge on disease states to ultimately help patients.