Sarah Sigal
Meet Sarah Sigal, a Research Assistant in the Riley Group. Sarah supports a wide range of cardiovascular research projects and hopes to study a DPhil in vascular development in the future. She also brings fun and connection to the IDRM community by masterminding the annual Christmas Bake Off contest and co-organising monthly board game evenings.
Tell us a little about your current research.
I'm in the field of cardiovascular research, with a focus on regenerative medicine for myocardial infarction. In my current role as a Research Assistant to the Riley group, I support a wide range of projects by generating surgical animal models of myocardial infarction. I'm currently very invested in testing out a compound that should help the heart heal after a heart attack!
What inspired you to pursue this field?
Cardiovascular disease is so prevalent, everyone knows someone who's had heart issues. When you see a problem all around you, it makes you want to work on some solutions - this is what inspired me to pursue cardiovascular research.
What is one of the key moments or discoveries during your research career that made you stop and think 'this is why I do what I do'?
I don't think I have a single, definite moment I can point to - it's more sustained than that. It's the satisfaction of doing something and doing it well, or of reaching the end-point of an experiment. Saying that, I find echocardiography really cool - seeing the heart beat in real-time is pretty amazing.
How has being a part of the IDRM community helped shape your research and/or career development?
Being a part of the IDRM community has definitely pushed me to get more involved in engagement and community organisation, which is always useful to make connections and develop your soft skills. The Cardiology open-plan office and lab really brings the floor together. Protocols and ideas get shared, sound-boarded and developed: you only need to ask to receive a helping hand, which is really great. More personally, working alongside development groups has fuelled a budding interest in studying vascular development - a topic I hope to pursue in the future as part of a DPhil!
How do you like to relax and recharge outside of the lab?
I love a good boardgame, which is why I co-organise the monthly IDRM Boardgame Nights - if you're any sort of boardgame afficionado, do come along! They're every third Thursday, and we've recently purchased a whole bunch of new games (thank you Iris!).
I also often do public engagement. Since charitable donations to the BHF fund a lot of our research, I think it's all the more important to give something back. Plus, it's very rewarding to inspire kids - they know a lot more than I did at their age!
Otherwise, I like to play badminton during the weekends and squeeze in some lino-printing in my free time. I've got some new cutters I've been itching to try!
What would be the theme song to your life right now?
Requin Chagrin's Adelaide - my instant mood-lifter!
