Nostagia rules...

This week I've been mainly catching up on writing notes from my meetings with Heads of Departments. I started meeting them last summer, but one Faculty, Medicine, Dentistry and Health, was undergoing a restructure, so I decided to with until later to meet them. I've almost completed the meetings, and they've all been very interesting, and extremely positive. A theme coming out of all of them is data - lots of it is being produced. And it all needs storing securely, managing and often publishing.

I've had a great time reminiscing as well. My visit to the head of Neuroscience involved a trip to SITRAN, which is built on the site of the old Genetics department, where I did my degree, PhD and postdoc. Genetics was housed in a prefabricated building (or shed...), but I loved it. There were 11 of us in my year.  That's right, 11. Talk about a close community. Here I am, walking at the side of the building  - duffle coat, double denim, and what looks like a bottle of wine in my hand.  After Genetics merged with Microbiology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology to make the new department of MBB in the 80s and moved to the central campus, some local youths set fire to the building, and it was no more.  But, as I moved through the corridors of SITRAN (which has some amazing facilities), I could still place my lab and workbench. And the spot where I wrecked a £120k ultracentrifuge only a few days after it had been delivered. But that's another story. 

I also got to reminisce when visiting the Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease, which is based in the Hallamshire Hospital where I worked for 6 years as Head of Administration in the Faculty of Medicine. I even got to visit the Deans' office, where I used to get called Christine if he was in a good mood, Dr Sexton if he was in a bad mood, and, on one occasion, Ma'am when I knew I was in dead trouble!  Fascinating work going on in this department. They are looking at personalised medicine, and part of this is looking at the gut flora, which is considered to be significant in why we react differently to different drugs, and are susceptible to different diseases.

I do love my job in computing, but I do miss science sometimes!

The Science of Cocktails

My background is science - I might be a manager now, but I have a degree in science, a PhD and I've done 3 yrs as a postdoc - all in Genetics. I love science - and can't understand why everyone doesn't. I remember being incredibly disappointed when my kids came home from school and told me that science was "boring'. How can it be I would ask, and then they told me how it was being taught, and I believed them. Apparently they weren't allowed to blow things up, or bury dead badgers till they rotted, or chase mercury round a bench....all things that I did in science lessons.

Over the past few years I've been very disappointed in how undervalued science has become, and how it's been represented in the media, so I'm so pleased that a group of very enthusiastic science students here in Sheffield have formed Science Brainwaves, an organisation dedicated to bringing science to everyone. I've been to a few of their events including a talk on chance by Brooke Magnanti, but tonight was perhaps the most enjoyable. The Science of Cocktails was a great way to start the weekend!

We started with a champagne cocktail, and then learnt about how alcohol is produced, including a taste test comparing cheap vodka produced by a continuous distillation process, and an expensive vodka produced using pot distillation. The cheap stuff was better! We also tasted whisky and learned why you should never put ice in it but always add a splash of water (it's all to do with esters...), and how to mix a good vodka/gin/fruit juice cocktail.  And - the most important lesson - how to avoid a hangover.  That one's easy. Don't drink.

If you do drink, the paler the drink, the better you'll feel. Drink water, take Neurofen, eat bananas (for potassium), and eat a fry up if you can stand it - you need the glycogen.

Good luck to Science Brainwaves - they deserve our support -  a great night, and I've got the Neurofen and bananas ready for the morning!