The TB-CRE is delighted to welcome Kathryn Snow, Michael Meehan, and Diana Quan as our new Postdocs!
Kathryn will be working with Professor Steve Graham at the Burnet Institute investigating TB in vulnerable groups. Kathryn did her undergraduate study in Microbiology, and moved into Epidemiology after realising that she is better at statistics than serial dilutions. She aims do more research with immediate translation potential, spending time speaking to people on both sides of the TB frontline. Kathryn considers qualitative data to be an essential aspect of research, with statistics only ever representing half the story.
When not working, Kathryn is spending time in her garden, at the beach with her partner, or making a lot of weird vegetarian stuff. She was almost a scuba diving instructor, but her love for science - conceived at the age of 6 when she wanted to be an entomologist - has led her to pursue a career as a Research Scientist. Welcome Kathryn!
Get in touch with Kathryn here.
Michael will be working with Professor Emma McBryde at James Cook University investigating epidemic models of TB informed by genomic data. He comes to the TB-CRE from a background in Mathematics, Physics, and Infectious Disease Modelling. His interest in research began when he read his first physics paper on dark matter, dark energy, and the evolution of the universe. In the coming years, Michael aims to secure more research funding and to expand his collaboration networks.
An avid spaghetti eater, Michael enjoys spending time with his family, catching up with friends, and travelling to Mission Beach, Magnetic Island, or anywhere with a beach. In another life he may have been a teacher - or even a pilot - but the dark matter and dark energy forever sealed his allegiance to scientific research. Welcome Michael!
Get in touch with Michael here.
Diana will be working with Professor Warwick Britton and Professor Jamie Triccas in TB vaccine development. She had a very rewarding PhD experience in Mycobacterial research and Immunology, and counts herself fortunate to have worked with such wonderful people. Diana's interest in research began in primary school when the CSIRO invited students to come along for a day in their labs completing different, fun activities. The one that stood out to her the most was when they extracted DNA from peas and could actually see the white strings of chromatin at the end! Throughout high school, science remained one of her favourite subjects thanks to some excellent teachers - so here she is! Diana aims to establish herself as a competitive researcher by driving a few projects forward and publishing papers. She is also keenly interested in getting involved with applying machine learning to TB drug discovery. She think's that there is a lot of untapped potential in the enormous body of literature that already exists. She would love to work towards consolidating what we know in order to draw out patterns and streamline research efforts. Diana is looking forward to immersing herself in a new area of study - the effects of cigarette smoking on pulmonary immunity to TB.
When not working, Diana can be found reading, writing, and playing squash. She is also a keen traveller and will be taking her grandmother to New Caledonia soon! Her favourite place to travel is, hands down, Croatia. Dubrovnik is her dream, and she could spend the rest of her life swimming along the Croatian coastline. If Diana were not a research scientist, she might consider running away to a temple in the mountains of China or herding moose in Finland, or enrolling in police academy. She believes in enjoying all kinds of food, from a three course meal, down to a bowl of cereal, and is convinced that the world needs to know more about what fruit looked like before selective breeding, and how many types of apples there used to be.
Get in touch with Diana here.
We wish all our postdocs the very best as they begin their TB-CRE journey!
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