Profile
Siana Jones
My CV
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Education:
Keil School: 1994-2000, University of Edinburgh: 2002-2006, University of Bristol: 2006-2007, University College London: 2015-Present
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Qualifications:
BSc, MSc
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Work History:
University of Bristol & Imperial College London
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Current Job:
PhD student/Exercise and Cardiac Physiologist
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My research is all about exercise and why people exercise less as they get older. Specifically I would like to find out more about what happens inside muscle cells (myocytes) before, during and after doing a bit of exercise. It’s also interesting to find out why some people could respond better to training than others (figure 1) .
I spend a lot of time with people, I ask them to exercise while I attach different things to their legs, arms, waist and even covering their face (figure 2) . My laboratory looks a bit like a mini-gym (figure 3) .
When I’m at my desk I fit slopes and curves to the data that I have collected. For example, I measure oxygen in the muscle and if I stop oxygen being delivered to that muscle (with a very tight cuff) I can watch the oxygen go down as it is being used up by the muscle. That slope is called the muscle oxygen consumption (or muscleVO2) (figure 4) .
I am also interested in how heart-health effects muscle health because muscle strength has been linked to cardiovascular disease (Figure 5) . Sometimes I help the imaging team out by using ultrasound to take pictures of the participants hearts, this is called Echocardiography (Figure 6) .
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My Typical Day:
In the morning I ask participants (mostly people older than 65) to exercise on a stepper while I record how they respond then in the afternoon I use code to analyse the data.
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There isn’t really a typical day because I try to get involved with lots of projects so that takes me out of the lab/office quite a bit. I also like going to conferences to present my data and hear about what other folk are doing. This is something which is BRILLIANT about being a scientist, especially when the conferences are held in exciting locations (such as the edge of Lake Garda in Italy) (Figure 7) 😉
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would like to set up an interactive, open-access website with videos from exercise professionals (and some non-professionals) talking about why and how they participate in physical activities to keep themselves fit.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Lots of fun.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Sometimes
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Paolo Nutini
What's your favourite food?
Spicy food
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Funding for more good science, a castle and a unicorn.
Tell us a joke.
I’m a scientist, not a comedian.
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