Profile
Mike Ambler
My CV
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Education:
Physiology and Psychology at University of Oxford; Medicine at University College London, PhD at the University of Bristol
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Qualifications:
MA (Physiology & Psychology), MBBS, MRCP (Member of the Royal College of Physicians)
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Work History:
Currently: University of Bristol, School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience; previously I worked in various London hospitals as an intensive care doctor, as well as in a laboratory at University College London; I’ve also worked in South Africa as an emergency medicine doctor;
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Current Job:
I’m working on a PhD funded by the Wellcome Trust at the University of Bristol
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About Me:
Intensive Care Doctor and Neuroscience Researcher
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I live in Bristol with my wife and daughter. I play the guitar (badly), surf (badly) and ski (when I get the chance, badly). I must like work because I cycle up and down several hills to get in each day.
I love to travel and work abroad. I’ve worked as a teacher in Botswana, a malaria researcher in Thailand and an emergency doctor in South Africa.
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I am trying to figure out how animals are able to switch themselves off to hibernate. I hope to use this knowledge to see whether humans might be able to hibernate. This would be useful when they are seriously ill on life support in the intensive care, and also it would be helpful for sending people to mars!
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My Typical Day:
Watch mice hibernate, then look at their brains under the microscope..
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I am trying to discover which part of the brain controls hibernation. One way to do this is to make mice hibernate (they do very short hibernation periods called ‘torpor’), then slice up the brain and look at which brain cells have been firing recently.
I’m also using genetically engineered mice to see whether I can switch the mice in and out of hibernation using genetically engineered switches to turn on and off different circuits in the brain.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Arrange a public debate on the ethics of animal testing in medical research
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Curious, caring, distractable
What did you want to be after you left school?
I couldn't decide between being a neuroscientist or a doctor, so I did both.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Hahah well I was in detention a fair few times. And I once hid a fake roman coin in an archeological dig that was happening at school, there was a lot of excitement (until they realised it was fake).
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Right now, probably Benjamin Clementine.
What's your favourite food?
My wife is Indian and I love the food we have when we go to visit her relatives in Kerela.
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
More patience... better surfer.. able to fly!
Tell us a joke.
OK, I made this one up myself, so be gentle: what did the short circuit say to the battery? Resistance is futile.
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