Ahmed Dawoud  MSc Genomics Medicine 2017

The facilities at Southampton provided me with the clinical genetics services and laboratories that really supported my academic studies. There is also a great deal of genomics expertise in Southampton; scientists here participate in a wide range of national and international genetics and cancer projects.

I chose to study at the University of Southampton because it is one of the elite universities chosen by Health Education England to provide a master’s programme in Genomic Medicine with a nationally recognised curriculum. In addition, the teaching and the research load is supported by the clinical genetics service and different laboratories at the University Hospital Southampton. There is also a great deal of genomics expertise in Southampton; scientists here participate in a wide range of national and international genetics and cancer projects, including the 100K genome project

The course has a wide diversity of students from many different countries and varying professional backgrounds. I studied with consultants, GPs, pharmacists, biomedical scientists, and statisticians and I learned a great deal from their experience. I feel that studying genomics at Southampton has helped me to develop a wide awareness of the field which was fundamental to plan my career. More and more, the teaching and the assessments have guided my understanding of the exciting range of genetics research and I found the programme leader very supportive in choosing a satisfying research project that really reflected my interests.

I was really honoured that my MSc in Genomic Medicine led to a research project in leukaemia genetics at Salisbury District Hospital, with an opportunity to train with state-of-the-art technologies. Since then, I have won a prestigious scholarship to undertake a PhD in Human Genetics at Southampton, and our research focuses on assessing the genetic basis of leukaemia to help inform the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment response of these malignancies.