This episode’s guest is Serena Nik-Zainal. Serena matriculated in Medicine at Murray Edwards College, New Hall, in 1995. Since then, she has undertaken numerous research posts in cancer research for which she was awarded the prestigious Dr Josef Steiner Cancer Research award in 2019. This was originally also known as the 'Nobel Prize for Cancer Research' and she is the first female scientist to win the award. Thanks to her research, mutations in cancer tumours can be analysed using new bioinformatic methods, which enables new approaches to targeted therapies. Last September, she was elected as an Honorary Fellow of Murray Edwards College, New Hall, which makes her the perfect guest to begin this series.

Hello and welcome to the podcast Shaped By. Shaped By is an interview series brought to you by Murray Edwards College, New Hall, at the University of Cambridge. In each episode we will interview a member of our alumnae, exploring the experiences which have shaped them to become the women they are today. This series is produced by Molly Gibson-Mee, Lexie Hoskins, and Eliza Gergely.