About me

OK so just like everyone else I HATE WRITING THESE BIO SECTIONS but here goes…..

I have been a geek for as long as I can remember, from maxing out my library card on a weekly basis as a child to my current Monday night 8.00pm half-hour dates with Jezza Paxman. This geeky nature led me to study an undergraduate degree in Genetics at the University of Liverpool, my hometown. After graduation and a brief stint in cytogenetics, I decided that my next challenge would be to undertake a PhD.

I am now in the final year of my NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship, obtained in partnership with the University of Liverpool and the Royal Liverpool University hospital. My work focuses on the role of the host in Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). This hospital superbug causes a disease with a wide spectrum of symptoms, from mild diarrhoea through to severe colitis and in some cases, death.

The ups and downs of my PhD have led me to question a future career in academia, but despite this my passion for science has remained. The lure of science communication has led me to create this blog, which I hope to use to express my opinions on all things science, as well as document the journey of my thesis write-up through to submission, defence and job hunting in the real world!

Work and science aside, I can usually be found at the cinema, on a squash court, or holed up in my room watching back-to-back episodes of Game of Thrones. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @Andrew_Swale, and enjoy the blog!