Women and Girls in Science 2022

I have been working as a Clinical Scientist in St James’s Hospital since 2005 within the National Coagulation Centre (NCC). That’s almost 17 years so, I guess you could say that time has flown while I was having fun! So how did I get here?

My original degree path was a winding one. I started out in Tallaght Institute of Technology the year it first opened and obtained a Diploma in Bioanalysis, followed by a Bachelor of Science degree from NUI Galway, and then an MSc in Medical Biochemistry from Kingston University in Surrey, U.K.. This 12 month modular Masters required three months of a laboratory project, so I arranged to return home to Dublin for this and that is when I first entered St James’s Hospital, and met Professor Owen Smith, consultant haematologist.

Prof. Smith supervised my MSc project, within the Department of Haematology and subsequently offered me a research assistant position in his new research group, in the Sir Patrick Dunn (SPD) laboratories in CPL, and then in the Department of Genetics in Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Here I developed what is now the routine thrombophilia genetic screening performed by Ms Mary Byrne’s team at the National Coagulation Laboratory (NCL). This work led on to obtaining my Ph.D., with a thesis entitled ‘The Coagulation & Inflammation Interface; The Pathophysiological Basis for Disease States’. I had a brief hiatus from the world of coagulation undertaking a post doctorate research position in the Department of Biochemistry in TCD. Coagulation drew me back into its fold once again and I returned to the National Centre for Hereditary Coagulation Disorders (NCHCD) in 2005. Today this is called the National Coagulation Centre (NCC).

My role as a Clinical Scientist is to provide genetic screening services to patients and family members where there is a history of inherited bleeding disorders such as Haemophilia. Our laboratory is called the Haemostasis Molecular Diagnostic (HMD) laboratory, part of the LabMed directorate. We provide our services to the NCC at St James’s Hospital, Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, and the Coagulation Comprehensive Care Centre at Cork University Hospital. By identifying the genetic variant within a family, this enables carrier testing of at risk family members, and compliments the phenotypic diagnosis, by providing additional information on the nature of the inheritance and on the risk of co-morbidities associated with certain genetic variants.

What would you say to girls considering a career in science?

Science is a career where multi-tasking is a very important attribute, and as we all know, us ladies are pretty good at that. So if you are considering a career in Science, consider the fact that you are already well equipped for it. ‘Science’ is so varied, there are many options open to you! If you’re not sure, choose a course that is general, and wait to see where your specific interests develop.

Women are resilient. So if at first you don’t succeed, don’t give up. I had many hurdles on my path, but decided I was going to get my Ph.D. no matter what. And I did. My mother had a great saying which she wrote on a good luck card to me once…’If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I will achieve it!’

Written by Catriona Keenan, Senior Clinical Scientist, Haemostasis Molecular Diagnostic (HMD) laboratory at St James’s Hospital