There are many things that inspire me as a researcher. My belief that the Unit is more than just a workplace has continued since. It was such a shock, especially as I had purposely worked late the day before! However, after the initial surprise and embarrassment, I was able to truly appreciate the amazing gesture, and be thankful for my fantastic colleagues and friends at the BSU. I arrived at work to find the Reception was decked out with Trinidad and Tobago flags, and my office was decorated like Santa’s grotto with streamers, balloons, glitter and a “happy 30 th birthday” banner. One of my more memorable moments since being at the BSU, which has nothing to do with research, was the day of my 30th birthday.
There have been encounters that I have had to navigate carefully, but on the whole, my journey so far has not been filled with major obstacles or treacherous paths. I have to say that I have been extremely fortunate in my career so far. Then, three years working as a consulting medical statistician and a year as a project statistician within the University provided me with the foundation and platform to move back into methodological and applied research, here at the MRC Biostatistics Unit. My PhD allowed me to pursue research in biostatistics in the area of event history analysis and counting processes, where I not only was guided by Pat, but also had input from David Clayton and Peter Whittle along the way.
#MY BSU COURSE SEARCH TRIAL#
The Diploma, through my applied project with Amgen, exposed me to medical statistics, where I worked on constructing confidence intervals for the difference in median survival times which I then applied to data from a clinical trial on small cell lung cancer. Pat was responsible for me transferring into the Diploma, and then reading for a PhD, and she should be credited for directing me towards a career in biostatistics research. On hearing this, Dr Korner (he was not yet a Professor) got up and took me to see Dr Pat Altham, who was the Director of the Diploma in Mathematical Statistics.
#MY BSU COURSE SEARCH FULL#
I don’t recall our full conversation, but I remember clearly when he asked me what area of Mathematics I was interested in, to which I answered, “I am interested in statistics and I’m planning to take mainly statistics courses”.
#MY BSU COURSE SEARCH REGISTRATION#
I missed the registration session for the Part III students, and consequently, alone and with some degree of anxiety, I visited Professor Tom Korner’s office to let him know that I had arrived in Cambridge and was here to do Part III. For me this happened when I unintentionally got my induction schedule mixed up. When looking back, you can sometimes see the role played by good fortune or serendipity. Fortunately, I also had the option of taking up a Cambridge Commonwealth Scholarship to read for the Part III of the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge. Immediately after completing my undergraduate degree at UWI, I had a three-month internship as a trainee Actuary at an Insurance Firm, however I found it was not the career path for me. Due to my affinity towards Maths, I was always encouraged and directed towards a career as an Actuary, because it was seen as one of the top professions. Growing up in Trinidad, it was never my intention to go into research.
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