Biography

Alexandra Harrison obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular Genetics from the University of Edinburgh in 2019. For her Bachelor’s project, she worked at the UK Centre for Mammalian Synthetic Biology, supervised by Dr. Dirk Kleinjan and Professor Susan Rosser. Here, she worked on engineering serine integrases to improve the directionality of their recombination reactions in mammalian cells. In 2019, she was awarded the Master’s excellence fellowship from the Graduate School Genetics and Epigenetics New Education, at the University of Paris. She is now pursuing this Master’s degree, and will undertake her 6-month project in the Taly lab, working on developing and using a 3D microfluidic tumour model to study colon cancer heterogeneity and drug resistance. She is particularly interested in synthetic biology, biotechnology and bio(medical)-engineering, and is motivated to pursue a PhD project focused on these areas. 

CURRICULUM VITAE (updated Oct. 2019)

Research Experiences

2020
6-month Master’s project in microfluidics and bioengineering – University of Paris, France. Supervisor: Dr. Wenjin Xiao & Dr. Valerie Taly
2019  
2-month Summer internship in biomedical engineering – University of Glasgow, UK. Supervisor: Dr. Melanie Jimenez.
4-month Bachelor’s project in synthetic biology – University of Edinburgh, UK. Supervisor: Dr. Dirk Kleinjan & Professor Susan Rosser 
2018
2-month Summer internship in chemical biology at Edinburgh Molecular Imaging – Edinburgh, UK. Supervisor: Dr. Christophe Portal.

Education

2019-2020: Master’s Degree in Genetics, University of Paris, France.
2015-2019: BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences (Molecular Genetics), University of Edinburgh, UK.
2013-2015: International Baccalaureate, Franconian International School, Germany.

Work and Volunteer Experience

September 2017 - Present • Secretary • Patient Outreach Project, Edinburgh
Organised and lead student visits to hospitals in Edinburgh
Socialised with and comforted elderly patients with infrequent visitors
Managed the visit rotas and weekly emails for the society
Coordinated the sale of souvenirs in a high pressure environment
Communicated with customers from various cultures, applying my proficiency in multiple languages
June 2018 – September 2019 • Sales Assistant • Prestige Scotland, Edinburgh Royal Mile

Societies, Awards and Skills

Member of Edinburgh University’s Synthetic Biology Society
Member of Edinburgh University’s Coding Club & Programming Society
Took beginner Python and R-coding classes
Edinburgh Award for Volunteering (2017)
English Native Speaker, Fluent in German, Proficient in Spanish (B2), Beginners French