Charity Insights

I could not believe how quickly my last week at the PHG Foundation arrived, and that it was already time to wrap-up up my project. I spent the beginning of the week implementing the last corrections and feedback for the briefing note, which will be published on the PHG Foundation website. I will be one of the authors on the publication, and before the briefing note can be accessed on the website it will be converted into a very smart format, similar to that of other briefing notes, by the communications team. It will be very exciting to see the final document!

Further to this, I spent the remainder of my week preparing a presentation on the project research findings. In order for everyone to be able to attend, we scheduled the presentation in a few weeks time, so I am already looking forward to coming back to the offices then. It made it much easier to say good-bye to everyone on my last day, seeing as I already knew that I would soon be back again.

My internship at the PHG Foundation has been a truly fantastic opportunity and I whole-heartedly enjoyed the experience of working in such an intellectually stimulating environment. I am extremely grateful to have been given this opportunity and I highly recommend for any future interns to start searching for prospective internships early, and to realise opportunities that come their way.

Read Week 4 at the PHG Foundation in full

Week three has been very busy, energetic and time to get things done. Primarily this included reviewing and acting on the comments and feedback I received, by looking into further resources and carefully analysing and interpreting the evidence surrounding the potential use of circulating tumour DNA in the clinic. Some of the resources I have consulted whilst researching and writing the policy briefing have included academic papers, the NICE guidelines, resources from learned-societies and medical/science news-feeds.

One of the most exciting parts of the internship has been the ‘horizon-scanning’ activities, where I am learning about all the fascinating advances that are being made at the forefront of science. I am also finding it very stimulating to conceptualise my own strategies for the implementation of this new technology for cancer testing. At the end of the week I had a meeting with the Chair of the PHG Foundation and had the chance to discuss my project findings. Further to that, there have been many more interesting conversations in the office and I continue to learn how science policy really works in practice.

Read Week 3 at the PHG Foundation in full

The second week of my internship saw me taking my research project into more depth, gaining a better understanding of the other projects and roles within the foundation and arranging meetings for next week.

At the beginning of the week I sat down with my supervisor for a quick debrief and feedback session on the working draft of my briefing note. We primarily discussed my progress on the project and the evidence surrounding use of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA), a new cancer testing approach, and the issues around its potential application in the clinic. It was very helpful to gain feedback at this stage, agree on areas for more in-depth research and identify experts we may want to approach for further information.

This week I have also started to learn more about the different projects going on within the foundation. I have found that tea-time is one of the best opportunities to learn about the most recent activities and get to know the people who sit in other offices. Further to that I have also actively approached different members of the team in order to learn more about their work and roles.

Having spent two weeks at the PHG Foundation, I can now say that one of the highlights of the internship is that I feel intellectually challenged in my work and inspired by the people around me. Seeing how quickly time flies I am strongly motivated to make substantial progress in my project and learn as much as possible in the next few weeks.

Read Week 2 at the Population Health Genomics (PHG) Foundation in full

On a hot British summer day, my first week at the PHG Foundation draws to a close, and I have many first impressions to share. The PHG Foundation is a Cambridge-based science and health policy think-tank, with the mission to bridge the gap between science and its practical implementation in society. My internship started with introductions to all the members of the team, and immediately I was made to feel very welcome in the friendly office atmosphere. From day-one, my expectations were confirmed, in that there is a lot to learn from the dynamic, multi-disciplinary team, which includes experts from the fields of genomics, medicine, epidemiology, public health, law and economics.

My internship is under the supervision of Dr. Leila Luheshi, the science lead, and on the first day we sat down to discuss the plan for my research project on a new DNA analysis approach for cancer testing.  My role will be to critically review the evidence there is surrounding this new technology and highlight the policy issues there may be in its implementation. I started this quest by consulting the scientific literature. As a PhD student I have practice in reading scientific papers, yet in this role I am looking at it from a policy perspective. With the plan being drawn up, and my work well underway, I am very much looking forward to the second week.

Read Week 1 at the PHG Foundation; a science and health policy think-tank in full