Originally from Helensburgh, Samantha is working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Masonic Medical Research Institute, NY. Her “day job” is focused on research into how and why the disease, Lupus develops, in order to try to find new drug targets to provide better treatments in the future as there are currently no curative treatments for the debilitating disease.
However, during the pandemic, Samantha and her colleagues have stepped up to support the COVID local response. New York State has been one of the worst hit areas in America during the pandemic with over 1.86 million cases and almost 50,000 deaths in this state alone.
Samantha has been aiding the local response by working with her team to process PCR COVID-19 tests for the local hospital within her lab facilities which are normally used for research.
Having chosen this varied and exciting career path, Samantha started her journey at West College Scotland Clydebank campus where she studied Applied Sciences. Samantha has been back in touch with the College recently supporting the national Choose College campaign supporting individuals into further education. Sharing her support of the College sector, Samantha said,
“For me, WCS was the start of my career path, and my lecturers helped me create the road map to get to where I wanted to be. No matter where it is you want to go the College will do its upmost to help you get there.”
She continued, “College acted as a stepping-stone between school and university for me. I learned how to overcome failure and started off on this exciting and rewarding career path.”
West College Scotland Science Curriculum Quality Leader, Sandra Spence said,
“We are so proud of Sam's achievements, and her story is an excellent example of what can be achieved by our students, many of whom have gone on to have successful careers in research, the health service or scientific manufacturing.”
She continued, “Whilst we can't all be like Sam carrying out fantastic work in America, we can make a difference. The dramatic impact scientists have had on how the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of that.”