Video: Dr. Weldon To Present At ThinkFest
Dr. Carika Weldon, a lecturer in biomedical sciences at De Montfort University in Leicester in the UK, recently returned to Bermuda for ‘ThinkFest 2017′ where she will share her research on cancer on September 17.
Think Fest is Bermuda’s first seminar series featuring an all Bermudian cast of outstanding academics and independent thinkers.
The series began in last month, hosting speakers such as Dana Selassie, Yesha Townsend, Saskia Wolsak and more.
On her work, Dr. Weldon told Bernews: “My research is focused on cancer and I work on a part of gene regulation, which is called splicing and my work essentially looks at how you can shift how it splices based on the presence of a drug and so I’ll be talking more about that on the 17th of September.”
When asked what makes her work unique, Dr. Weldon said: “The difference in what I do is that I look at a particular structure in RNA, most people look at proteins and trying to target proteins and some look at targeting DNA but I’m looking at RNA and a particular structure in RNA called G-quadruplex.
“If you don’t know what that means come to my talk on the 17th of September and you’ll understand what I’m talking about,” she added.
Dr. Weldon’s expertise is in high demand: “I just came from a conference in Philadelphia on molecular biology, and I was invited to speak about my work,” she told Bernews.
“We had people from all over the world there and you had people who are leaders in the US in terms of research. And when I presented my work, they were like ooh this is really exciting it’s on the cutting of what’s going on.
“ThinkFest would be the fifth time this year that I’ve gone internationally from the UK to discuss my research,” she added.
Dr. Weldon has been conducting her research since 2011 when she started her Ph.D. After finishing her Ph.D. in 2015, she took on the role as a Principle Investigator with her own lab. This not only affords her increased independence in her work but also means she has the ability to train other Ph.D. students.
When asked about her teaching style she said: “I like to get people involved. At University I teach first-year Chemistry to students that don’t expect to learn Chemistry, so it’s my job to kind of make them excited about it so they can learn.
“So I always like to use technology, bring your smartphones, bring your tablets, you’re going to be using them, don’t worry about how that’s my job just come with it and you’ll be involved as opposed to just passively listening to me talk. I like the sound of my voice but not as much as I like to see people getting involved when I’m talking.”
For more information on Think Fest contact Suzanne Mayall at info@think.bm or visit their website here.
You go girl~~~