Profile
Robert Ives
In Vivo Biologist
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About Me:
Part time Lego addict with a wife and two ‘challenging at times’ sons
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I live in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, with my wife and two sons (14 and 19 years old), a goldendoodle (Bella), and a leopard gecko (LD – ‘little dragon’). Sharon, my wife, is a teacher and has even less spare time than I do!
I got bored with school and left education at 18 after completing my A Levels. I was lucky enough to find a job where I was allowed to study for my science degree part time which was better for me than going to University. I love to learn, but in my own way.
I love animals and in my spare time, enjoy going on wildlife walks, especially around some of the local lakes where I often come across grass snakes and other interesting creepy crawlies. I also like to help out at local athletics meetings as a field judge (it can be a bit scary seeing a javelin get caught in a gust of wind and start flying straight at you). ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ are my favourite TV shows. I also like thriller and horror movies.
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My pronouns are:
He/ him
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My Work:
I test medicines using animals and help to develop medicines for children which don’t taste bad.
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I am an in-vivo scientist (that means I work with animals) creating new medicines for humans. A major part of my job is to test the taste of medicines for children (kids won’t swallow medicine if it tastes bad) and make special recipes which include the medicine that the children will hopefully take (kind of like making a cake). I have a special group of rats (picture below) who act as my taste testers and when I give them a tiny bit of medicine in water, they will lick it and I can work out if the medicine tastes horrible or not. The rats only get a tiny bit of medicine so it doesn’t make them feel bad.
I also work with scientists at University’s to help find easier ways of testing medicine and recently worked with a Professor who used slime mould (picture below) to test if chemicals might taste bitter or could be dangerous to humans. It’s amazing.
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My Typical Day:
Say ‘hello’ to my rats, write up a study plan (bit like home work) and test some medicine.
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Whenever I can, I will go and say hello to my rats. I have some amazing people who look after them for me, keep them clean with lots of food and water and make sure they are healthy.
When I have a chemical that needs testing I have to write out a special form that says why I need to use animals and show it to some vets and scientists who must all agree before I can run an experiment. There are lots of laws that protect the animals to make sure that they are only used when there is no other way of testing to see if a chemical might become a medicine. All of our animals are cared for by trained people and we have lots of vets available if an animal becomes unwell.
In the afternoons, I often have lots of meetings where we talk about things like the new medicines we need to make to help people, or things we can do to improve our animals lives.
Once I have finished an experiment I have to write up my results. This is a little bit like doing homework but is very important. Sometimes I have to stand in front of a room full of scientists and tell them all about the experiments I have been doing, which can be a bit scary.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Sensory science kits for a local special school