Daniel Asby Full-time PhD in Human Genetics, 2010

Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester

Hi, I'm Daniel Asby and I studied Full-time PhD in Human Genetics within Medicine at the University of Southampton.

The deciding factor in choosing Southampton was the enthusiasm and excitement shown by my PhD supervisor when he described the research

The University of Southampton was my first choice for my PhD in Human Genetics.  I knew it was part of the Russell Group and had a highly-regarded medical school.  It is also relatively close to where I was living in London and at the time I did not want to relocate too far from my family and friends.

However, the deciding factor for me in choosing Southampton was the enthusiasm and excitement shown by my PhD supervisor when he described the research.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time studying for my PhD, despite the late nights and weekends I spent in the lab performing experiments and culturing cells.

My research involved looking into the processes that occur during early pregnancy that determine whether a child is born male or female.  I was investigating how the different sex chromosomes lead to femaleness or maleness.  I also wanted to try and discover ways to help children who are born with abnormalities of the reproductive system.

My PhD involved a lot of collaborative work which meant I met many very interesting people both from the UK and abroad.  I was fortunate to be able to work with the Endocrine Unit at Southampton General Hospital and the universities of Birmingham and Manchester in the UK, and Harvard University in America.

These collaborations involved sharing expertise, resources and good practice, as well as helping me process and analyse samples.  They led to the production of some very important data which formed a major part of my thesis.

The work with the University of Manchester in particular helped generate further research funding into these critical early developmental processes that cause a child to become either male or female.

I am currently continuing this work as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester, although ultimately I would like to return to the University of Southampton to continue working.