Biomedical scientist

I’m a biomedical scientist because…

I never stop learning interesting things. I carry out a range of scientific tests to help doctors diagnose diseases or monitor how effective treatment is. I’m currently working in haemoglobinopathy where I test the bloods from pregnant women to check if they have any hereditary diseases. We also test newborn babies to confirm if they have a haemoglobin disease, for example sickle cell anaemia.

I started as a medical lab assistant and was offered the chance to do a biomedical sciences degree. I worked full-time and studied part-time at University of Bradford. I’m profoundly deaf and I made sure I had Disabled Students’ Allowances, Access to Work support and one-to-one support from the lecturers. I became a registered biomedical scientist in 2011.

We tend to have a number of meetings so I have speech-to-text support or a lipspeaker or Sign Supported English (SSE) interpreter. I also have a fantastic line manager who makes sure I have the right support.

Alexandra Broderick