Name
Sifan Zhang 

Pathway
Translational Medicine 

Cohort Year
2019-20 

Supervisor
Prof Robin Shattock, Dr Katrina Pollock 

What attracted you to the MRes in Clinical Research?  
I studied basic medical sciences in undergraduate, at that time I'm curious about what happens next after laboratory work, so studying clinical research is the best choice to understand it. 

What specific area are you focusing on for you project?  
Immune response against HIV vaccine. 

Most beneficial things about the programme  
The most amazing thing about this programme is that I can spend almost a year in the lab, I can learn whatever I want to learn, so I can do a relatively complicated project. 

What are you planning to do after the MRes? 
I will apply for a PhD position 

What advice would you give those considering the MRes in Clinical Research? 
If you consider academic as your future career, or if you are interested in clinical trials, MRes in Clinical Research would be a good choice. 

How do you think the course will impact your future career?  
I think this course impacts the way I raise questions, I focus more practical question now. For example, instead of focusing on mechanism, I care more about what a drug/vaccine can do to human body. So I would probably join industry instead of pure academic in the future. 

What are you enjoying most about studying at Imperial and in the Faculty of Medicine? 
I really appreciate the huge amout of resources, including library, lab and teaching staff. Personally, I'm very lucky to work in Prof. Shattock's group, they are working hard on developing a COVID-19 SaRNA vaccine, so I can have a full understanding about how vaccines are raced in this pandemic.