Arabella Heath

Intro

I am a first year biochemistry student, who is passionate about the intersection between computing and life sciences.

My first experience of Imperial was a coding summer programme in 2016, and I am excited to continue developing my interest. I hope to become the Education Officer of Computational Biology to help people develop confidence in bioinformatics, and spread awareness of the fascinating technology that is revolutionising this field.

What I want to do

I want to organise a variety of different interactive events, that allow people to gain as much hands on experience as possible. I have valued the opportunity to work with people from different departments and in different year groups, and as Education Officer, I would organise opportunities that involve as much collaboration as possible.

I have several ideas for interactive workshops and programmes throughout the year:

Workshops:

•Classes in programming for computational biology, e.g. Python and R

•Fundamental research techniques, e.g. PyMOL

•Modern bioinformatics techniques, e.g. AlphaFold, AI for Drug Discovery

Competitions:

•Life science hackathon: an opportunity encouraging collaboration

•Rosalind style problem competition: a race to solve short bioinformatics challenges

Projects:

•Over the year, work in teams to brainstorm develop tangible solutions to a bioinformatics problem

- Hold regular presentations/symposiums to showcase projects and discuss ideas

Why me?

I am organised, passionate, and skilled in communication and collaboration. I have had many experiences running school societies and organising events, such as speakers and interactive lessons, and would be able to effectively put together fun and engaging opportunities.