Adriana Toutoudaki - clinical bioinformatician

What does your job involve?

As a Clinical Scientist part of the Bioinformatics Team my job mainly includes ensuring genomic data is analysed correctly and returned to the scientists for analyses which in turn aids patient diagnosis. We do that by using programming and other computational methods to automate our routine analysis but also are actively involved in the development of new testing pathways. Currently helping out the Solid Cancer team to implement tumour testing using both DNA and RNA sequencing. Also, I am using part of my time to help train new members of staff and trainee clinical scientists.

What role did you and your team play in the COVID-19 response?

Our team didn’t directly play a role in the COVID-19 response, we are currently busy with implementing a variety of new tests and it was deemed appropriate to continue doing so. We are one of the only teams that can work almost entirely from home so we have adapted our practice to do so.

What’s the best thing about your job?

I love my job as I get to constantly learn new things and help in a variety of disease groups making every day different. I also like the flexibility of working from everywhere; I could be on the beach and still work 9 - 5 if needed! Additionally, the bioinformatics team a great team to be a part of.

Anything else you would like to add?

I finished the Scientist Training Programme in September, during my training, we creating a training support blog with another trainee called STP Perspectives (opens in a new tab). If you are interested in learning about the STP and what the trainees are up to or what the different specialisms entail do visit the blog, it has proved very useful and we have created a very welcoming small healthcare science community. If you have any questions about bioinformatics or the STP you can find me on Twitter @antriana81.