{"id":3433,"date":"2024-08-09T07:45:53","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T06:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/?p=3433"},"modified":"2024-08-09T13:06:51","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T12:06:51","slug":"5-mins-with-phd-student-hannah-drysdale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/2024\/08\/09\/5-mins-with-phd-student-hannah-drysdale\/","title":{"rendered":"5 mins with: PhD Student Hannah Drysdale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Hannah is a final year PhD student at King\u2019s College London \/ Queen Mary University of London. Her PhD, which is funded by Cancer Research UK, investigates socioeconomic differences in barriers to cervical screening and considers whether non-speculum sampling approaches, such as HPV vaginal self-sampling<\/a>, could help to reduce inequalities in uptake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah recently put together a short video giving us insight into her working day<\/a>!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is the next big thing in cancer prevention research?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve chosen something that relates to my area of work (cervical cancer screening). I\u2019m really excited about the possible introduction of HPV vaginal self-sampling into the NHS cervical screening programme. I believe that it will help to reduce some of the well-known barriers to a speculum examination that many women, like I, face (i.e. embarrassment, finding the time to attend, discomfort). I really hope that it encourages more women to participate in the programme and goes some way to tackling the health inequalities that surround cervical cancer. Our research group recently published a paper looking at the feasibility of introducing self-sampling to the screening programme (the YouScreen study)<\/a> and showed that self-sampling could encourage ~400k more women a year to be screened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which failure(s) changed you the most?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I love this question because I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Day<\/a>\u2019s \u201cHow to fail\u201d podcast, but it is actually really difficult to answer. I\u2019ve got lots to choose from but, a big one was failing to go with my gut when I was choosing which subject to read at university. I loved psychology but all of my friends were studying business, so I followed the crowd. I soon realised that I didn\u2019t quite fit the mould as I didn\u2019t want to be an investment banker or management consultant. But it\u2019s gone full circle because I am now working in the field of psychology and cancer prevention, something that I am really passionate about! It only took me took nine years to get there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the best piece of advice (work or life) you\u2019ve been given?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of my supervisors, Laura Marlow<\/a>, gave me a little ceramic plaque when I returned from maternity leave that said, \u201cremember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you feel and smarter than you think\u201d. I really needed a boost at the time because I was incredibly sleep-deprived and starting to think that I wasn\u2019t clever enough to complete my PhD. The plaque still has pride of place in my living room, and I can look at it from my desk when I work from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m inspired most by… <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From a personal perspective it would be my mum and her resilience and determination throughout her life. Professionally it is people who really care about making a difference, and those that invest in other people\u2019s development. I\u2019ve been so lucky to be part of a team that does this and am really fortunate to have a supportive supervisory team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is an event that changed your life? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Motherhood, without a shadow of a doubt. My little tornado, Joe, arrived in 2022, and completely changed everything that I had previously known. It has been the most rewarding, but also challenging, thing that has ever happened to me. He has taught me so much, which I can definitely apply to my work \u2013 selflessness, patience, time management and most importantly the value of coffee!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your favourite paper that you’ve published in the last 5 years (the one you’re most proud of)? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m new to the field so have only published two papers, so I don\u2019t have an array to choose from! But it would have to be my second paper; Experiences of Self-Sampling and Future Screening Preferences in Non-Attenders Who Returned an HPV Vaginal Self-Sample in the YouScreen Study: Findings From a Cross-Sectional Questionnaire<\/a>. It was really interesting to be part of YouScreen, to learn about research trials, and to publish research that could have an impact in the future.  My confidence as a researcher had grown between my first and second publication and I enjoyed drafting this manuscript much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you\u2019ve ever made? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My best investment was returning to university to do a postgraduate conversion degree in psychology. I studied in the evenings at Birkbeck while working at an events company and I enjoyed it so much (well, before the pandemic hit!). It was nice to be back studying and I had a new-found appreciation for learning. Jo Waller<\/a> (my current supervisor) then took a chance on me for my PhD and the rest is history!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocussed, what do you do? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Take a walk, do a quick workout or stroke the cat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The views expressed are those of the author. Posting of the blog does not signify that the Cancer Prevention Group endorses those views or opinions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subscribe to our mailing list!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hannah is a final year PhD student at King\u2019s College London \/ Queen Mary University of London. Her PhD, which is funded by Cancer Research UK, investigates socioeconomic differences in barriers to cervical screening and considers whether non-speculum sampling approaches, such as HPV vaginal self-sampling, could help to reduce inequalities in uptake. Hannah recently put… Read More »5 mins with: PhD Student Hannah Drysdale<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,12,13,30,33,38],"tags":[67,124,147,252,420],"class_list":["post-3433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-minutes-with","category-behavourial-science","category-cancer-prevention","category-cancer-screening","category-edi","category-five-minutes-with","category-hpv-self-sampling","tag-5-minutes-with","tag-cancer-prevention","tag-cervical-screening","tag-hpv","tag-self-sampling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3433"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3445,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions\/3445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}