Dr Becca Wilson

Current Position – University of Liverpool

Jun 2020 – present UKRI Innovation Fellow (HDR UK), Institute of Population Health Science

My fellowship continues to investigate and develop tools to help scientists and doctors make good use of sensitive health data, while minimising the risk of an individual or their health status becoming known. I focus on the integration of DataSHIELD with two increasingly important areas of health data use: 1) information from medical text; 2) visual display of data, particularly in augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR).

I am also a Research Project Specialist in the NIHR ARC NW.


April 2017 – May 2020 Newcastle University

Feb 2018 – May 2020 UKRI Innovation Fellow (HDR UK), Institute of Health and Society

My fellowship investigated tools to help scientists and doctors make good use of sensitive health data, while minimising the risk of an individual or their health status becoming known. I focussed on the integration of DataSHIELD with two increasingly important areas of health data use: 1) information from medical text; 2) visual display of data, particularly in augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR).

Apr 2017 – Jan 2017 Senior Research Associate, Institute of Health and Society

Continued work in the Data 2 Knowledge Group following the move to Newcastle University.


October 2013 – March 2017 University of Bristol

Mar 2016 – Mar 2017 Research Fellow, School of Social and Community Medicine

I led DataSHIELD developing new software to facilitate the secure analysis of biomedical data. I was PI on the AMASED project exploring text analysis capability in DataSHIELD, and am the founder and Co-I on the Papers Metadata Augmentation project within CLOSER. I am a research Co-Investigator on the ALSPAC Seeing is Believing grant to utilise VR as a visualisation method for ALSPAC data.

Oct 2013-Mar 2016 Senior Research Associate, School of Social and Community Medicine

I led DataSHIELD developing new software to facilitate the secure analysis of biomedical data. I was PI on the AMASED project exploring text analysis capability in DataSHIELD, and Co-I on the Papers Metadata Augmentation project within CLOSER.


March 2009 – September 2013 University of Leicester

Jul 2013 – Sep 2013 Research Associate, Health Sciences

I joined the Genetic Epidemiology group at the University of Leicester to work on DataSHIELD. I assisted in the development of new software to enable the secure analysis of biomedical datasets.

Nov 2010-Sep 2013 National Space Academy Project Scientist, Space Research Centre

I was the University of Leicester project scientist for the National Space Academy, a collaborative initiative set up by the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham and the National Space Centre, Leicester. The Space Academy develops and delivers G.C.S.E and A Level revision-focussed masterclasses in the sciences using space science as the context for teaching and inspiration. In 2012, this educational programme was nationalised across England, supported by the UK Space Agency, ESA, STFC and a consortium of space industry. It aims to encourage young people into a career in the space sector. My responsibilities included developing/delivering masterclasses and teacher CPD drawing on the wonderment of environmental and planetary sciences. I also worked with project stakeholders at space careers events.

Complementary to this role I was an outreach officer for the Physics and Astronomy department, with a focus on Space Research Centre science. In this role I initiated and managed @PhysicsUoL the department twitter account, tweeting research news stories and outreach to the general public. I have developed and delivered Earth observation and planetary science research-based and curriculum-linked outreach activities across KS1-5. I have been PI and grant writer of a number of successful outreach grants.

Feb 2013-Jul 2013 Web Content Manager, Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit

I redesigned the Leicester cardiovascular BRU website, an information point for staff, external scientists and patients recruited for trials. This involved sourcing and editing new content, updating existing content, linking to social media and liaising between audio-visual experts to create new images and film content for the website. Further information is available in my communications portfolio.

Nov 2011-Jul 2013 Project Scientist, Space Research Centre

I worked on a range of knowledge exchange projects including GSTEP – helping businesses access and use Earth Observation data for regional competitiveness. My work in GSTEP included developing a training course for educational businesses and services based on the visualisation of geotagged media (e.g. photos, video) and data. I also worked at the Space IDEAS Hub – a project offering regional businesses access to University expertise derived from over 50 years of space research. I conducted a variety of work as the project scientist – from product testing to geospatial data visualisation. I also contributed to the planning and delivery of industry exhibitions and business engagement events and developed/edited marketing materials (newsletters, case studies, event adverts and flyers). I redesigned and maintained the project website, @spaceideashub twitter account and flikr stream.

Mar 2009-Jan 2011 Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Department of Chemistry

I was employed as a post-doctoral research assistant in the Department of Chemistry. I worked on GEOmon (Global Earth Observation and Monitoring), an integrated project within the 6th Framework Programme of the European Union involving 38 participating institutes. I developed customized data analysis tools to analyse trace gas trends of European air quality data sets and global model outputs from the past 20 years. This provided an insight into the impact of European legislation on trace gas pollutants through the control of precursor emissions. I presented my research at international conferences, contributed to the final project report and written lead author articles, journal papers and conference proceedings.


Education

2004 – 2009 Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute, The Open University
Ph.D. Organic Cosmochemistry
Thesis: Organic Material in Micrometeorites: Processes Affecting its Delivery to Planetary Environments.
Ph.D. Supervisors: Dr Victoria Pearson, Dr Ian Franchi, Prof. Ian Wright and Dr Iain Gilmour
Ph.D. Examiners: Dr Matthew Genge, Imperial College London and Prof. Charles Cockell, The Open University

The aim of my Ph.D. was to investigate the effect of atmospheric entry heating on the organic and volatile composition of micrometeorites and the contribution of these components to early atmospheric development and influence on prebiotic chemistry. This was achieved by developing experimental simulation procedures of the entry heating process on analogous extraterrestrial materials. The thermal alteration of organic (with emphasis on biomolecules and their precursors) and volatile material was monitored with respect to varying simulation parameters. In addition, I analysed the organic composition of Antarctic micrometeorites using 2 dimensional (GCxGC) gas chromatography, providing the first comprehensive volatile organic analysis of these extraterrestrial materials. Through my Ph.D. I have gained experience of handling and analysing the organic and/or volatile composition of terrestrial material and that of extraterrestrial materials of scarce availability and enhanced value (micrometeorites, meteorites and Martian material).


2000 – 2004 Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London
2:1 M.Sci. Geological Science (Hons)
M.Sci. research thesis: The Thermal History of Chondrules in NWA 801.
M.Sci. thesis supervisors: Prof. Sara Russel, Natural History Museum and Dr Dominik Weiss, Imperial College London.

This project involved unravelling the thermal history of chondrules within a CR2 meteorite (NWA-801) using mineralogical and textural information from the electron microprobe, and geochemical information (Cu, Pb and Zn stable isotopes) acquired from ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry). This project was carried out in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, London.


1993 – 2000 Nonsuch High School for Girls, Cheam, Surrey
A Levels
Biology (B), Chemistry (B), Physics (B), General Studies (B)

G.C.S.Es 
Dual Science (A A), Maths (A), Geography (A), English Language (A), English Literature (A), French (A), Latin (A), Textiles – Interior Design (B), History (B)