Timo Leopold Kuerten graduated in 2019 with a BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science. We caught up with him to see what he has been up to since graduation.
What was your dream job as a child, and what is your dream job now?
My dream job was to be a doctor! My current dream job is not too dissimilar – I want to become a clinical academic researcher and eventually maybe lead a clinical trial!
Why did you choose Kent?
I heard great feedback from alumni and current students when I applied, and my course was highly ranked with great graduate outcomes.
What are your favourite memories from your time at Kent?
Meeting my closest friends that I’m still in contact with today!
What have you been up to since graduating?
I have been busy undertaking a PhD in cancer immunotherapy at the University of Southampton. However, I’ve now (crazily) decided to pursue a medical degree and just received an offer from Kent and Medway Medical School!
What does your role involve?
My current role involves a mixture of computational biology, in vitro and in vivo lab work to try and find new therapeutic targets that can be used to deplete tumour T-regulatory cells in tumours with antibodies.
How do you apply the knowledge and skills you gained during your studies in your job and what advice would you give to students and fellow alumni?
I am building upon the strong lab foundations introduced as part of my course, and I use transferrable skills such as critical literature analysis on a daily basis!
What are your future plans / aspirations?
To study medicine so that I can combine my research interests with direct patient contact – I really want to be able to help translate new therapies from the lab into the clinic!
What advice would you give to current students doing your course?
Course-wise: if you want lab experience (highly desired by placements and grad positions in biological sciences), just ask any of the academics whose work you’re interested in if you can shadow their PhD students or even undertake a summer lab project!
Extracurricular: take advantage of all the societies that Kent has to offer! There’s something for any interest you could dream up, and on the off-chance that there’s not, it’s easy to start your own society!