Meet Shelley — explorer of Vancouver's outdoors and clinical trial coordinator.
Q: What does your work entail?
A: I manage respiratory patients’ participation in clinical trials. The trials evaluate the efficacy and safety of new respiratory medications. Our patients have conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and bronchiectasis. I work to ensure patient health and safety is a priority throughout the trials.
Q: Why are you interested in this area of research?
A: I have always loved working with people in the medical field. My background is in cell and molecular biology, so I’m interested in how new medications, specifically biologics, work in the body to improve medical conditions. I enjoy research and learning new things, but I also really like working with patients.
Q: What's the best work advice you would pass on to other young researchers?
A:Be true to yourself. Research thrives on relationships, ethics and precision. You need to build and continually develop relationships with colleagues, sponsors, patients and the public while maintaining the highest standard of ethical research practices and data collection. Our work leads to the implementation of new treatments and medications and we need to build a strong foundation for these developments.
Q: What do you see yourself doing in 20 years?
A: I can honestly say that I love my career. I would be thrilled to still be working in the same field 20 years from now, but if I’m not, I can see myself working in the hospital setting, or on the drug development side of research, or working for a pharmaceutical sponsor, perhaps auditing study data to ensure data integrity.
Q: How do you like to spend your non-working hours?
A: I love the beach! Rain or shine I always enjoy listening to the waves crash against the shore and watching turbulent weather tear across the sky. I also love spending time puddle jumping with my two-year-old niece, Ava. In spring and summer I hike up the local mountains, explore the city, and fly my kite in Stanley Park. In winter months, I go snowshoeing on Cypress Mountain and explore the peaceful, snowy trails.
Q: What would you be doing if you weren't a researcher?
A: I initially studied to work in forensic science as a biologist. I have a minor in criminology and have always been interested in legal system professions such as crime scene investigator, lawyer, or police investigator. Other than that, I think I’d enjoy working as a marine biologist–in Hawaii.
Q: What's your healthiest habit?
A: I love swimming laps in the pool and playing in the water. My favouite is swimming in tropical waters where I can snorkel at the same time, but I’ll take what I can get.
Q: If you won a free vacation to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: Finland. When I was a child, we had a Finnish exchange student stay with us. Riitta was a teenager at the time, and my sister, Janine and I followed her everywhere. Riitta lived with us for one year and then went home and became a doctor. A few years ago she and her son came to stay with our family for Christmas. It was the first time we had seen her in over 20 years. I would love to be able to go and spend time in her country and explore all of the amazing things she told us about when we were children.
Q: What's one item that you can't live without when you're working?
A: My owl mug and nespresso maker. You can’t have one without the other, so that counts as one item, right?
