Postgraduate alumni: Jodie's story

Jodie chose the Neuroscience MSc at King's because it had the edge when it came to flexibility. The curriculum had fundamental neuroscience modules but also offered options to specialise in developmental neuroscience, neuroimaging, or Jodie’s chosen subject, psychiatric genetics. The course also offered computational emphasis.

Postgraduate life begins

Having made her decision, Jodie started her postgraduate life as a King’s student. The course had quite a lot of students on it – around 100 per cohort – but it was a close-knit community. With the specialisms built into the course, there were plenty of opportunities to get to know people in smaller groups.

As well as the specialist modules, the research project was another opportunity for Jodie to focus her interests. King’s put on project information evenings which really helped solidify her decision to specialise in psychiatric genetics. Although there was a list of projects students could choose from, Jodie decided to be proactive and approach Professor Gerome Breen, a psychiatric geneticist who works on the genetics of affective (mood) disorders, psychosis and eating disorders, to be her supervisor.

An unexpected direction

Jodie hadn’t yet decided on a career path when fate presented a new option to her. Her tutor on the MSc said in passing that Jodie would make a strong PhD candidate. She hadn’t even considered continuing her studies, but the idea stuck.

Perhaps even more fortunately, a friend on her course was working on a side learning project with Dr Petra Proitsi and invited Jodie along. Petra told Jodie about a PhD she was running with Richard Dobson that would be a good fit for her skills. After going through the official application process, the place was confirmed and Jodie started her doctorate straight after finishing her Master’s.

King’s leading location

Jodie is now working on her doctorate at the Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, a five-minute walk from the main IoPPN building. She’s using a multi-omic approach, integrating data across genomics, metabolomics and other data modalities to predict Alzheimer’s Disease risk. Using prediction modelling and causal analyses, she’s hunting for biomarkers that can tell her more about the disease.

Being based at Denmark Hill is perfect for her PhD as she’s so close to the Maudsley Hospital, one of the world’s leading psychiatric hospitals. Not many universities can offer direct access to the same quality of data that King’s students and researchers have. London also hosts many of the talks and conferences Jodie wants to attend.

A simple transition to doctoral study

Jodie’s move from MSc to PhD was straightforward – she already knew her supervisor, and some of her coursemates from the MSc have continued their studies at King’s too. Her PhD was advertised as fully funded so there wasn’t much planning needed for this next stage of her education.

But Jodie also knows there’s lots of support available if she needs it. The Centre for Doctoral Studies organises talks, support groups and writing classes. There are lots of options, such as help with writing a thesis, so starting a PhD isn’t scary – it’s an exciting next step in a career.

More opportunities at King’s

Jodie’s PhD funding includes a budget for training. And when she was in the library one day, Jodie came across the perfect opportunity – a postgraduate course in applied statistical modelling. She thought it was directly relevant to her course and would allow her to pick up skills that would feed into her doctorate. Jodie’s supervisor agreed.

The course offers a flexible approach, with eight modules, each lasting six weeks. One week of each module is face-to-face learning, with the rest fitting in around Jodie’s other commitments. The flexibility provides an ideal way to work the course around her PhD.

Jodie is still working on her PhD and hasn’t committed to a career path yet. She’s open to going back into industry, but whatever she does, she wants to carry on working within her current specialism.

Thinking of studying for a PhD?

Jodie would like to offer a simple bit of advice to anyone thinking about moving onto doctoral study: be proactive. Talk to lots of people and take the time to figure out what you enjoy, rather than waiting for something to come to you which won’t be quite as good a match. You might need to be patient to find the perfect PhD, but something will come up.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interested in studying a postgraduate course? Find out more about our next Postgraduate Virtual Open Week and discover what it’s like to study at King’s and how to apply.