Eleanor Hayles is a Medical Research Council (MRC) funded PhD student on the Microbes, Microbiomes and Bioinformatics (MMB) Doctoral Training Programme, based at Quadram Institute. She recently completed 12-week professional placement at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in London.

Eleanor is a student in Dr Gemma Langridge’s group with her research focused on the genomic epidemiology of key pathogens that impact public health in the UK, looking specifically at SARS-CoV-2 and Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli. She wanted to use her placement as an opportunity to understand what it is like to work in a public health organisation as this is an area she is considering post PhD.

For her placement, Eleanor wanted to understand how epidemiological information is applied and used in a public health setting and how relevant stakeholders are communicated to.

The UK Health Security Agency is a government agency which prevents, prepares for and responds to infectious diseases, and environmental hazards, to keep all our communities safe.

Eleanor had her own data analysis project and using her skills in the data analysis software R, she analysed a large dataset of public health surveillance data spanning nine years,

Eleanor explains more, “My project at UKHSA focused on a microbe outside of my PhD research called Salmonella. This included looking at clusters of Salmonella cases observed by UKHSA, quantifying which subgroups of Salmonella were responsible, alongside assessing travel associations across the dataset.”

Initial questions were suggested by UKHSA, but Eleanor was free to push the project of interest as required, with regular catch-up meetings to check on progress. She also attended operational meetings from across the department to understand working protocols and interactions, and further meetings across multiple departments and divisions.

Eleanor had the opportunity to attend the Hot Topics in Food Microbiology conference during her placement. This conference showed the translational value of the work UKHSA do and how they work with wider industry such as the food industry to keep food safe. During the last week of her placement, Eleanor presented her findings in person and online at a departmental seminar to 40 people.

As the placement project was outside of Eleanor’s PhD project area, her knowledge of a different microbe developed alongside her knowledge of public health in a government agency setting. Eleanor furthered her creativity and problem solving via having a self-directed analysis project to work on throughout her placement. Her confidence and communication skills improved from this experience too.

Dr Marie Chattaway, Head of the Specialist Scientific Reference Service for Salmonella at UKHSA, Eleanor’s supervisor whilst at UKHSA commented, “Hosting a placement student was highly beneficial to our organisation. Over the course of three months, she contributed significantly to public health and epidemiological research. Her analysis of nine years’ worth of Salmonella surveillance data provided valuable insights into trends and associations between clusters, travel-related cases, and domestically acquired infections. These findings have strengthened our evidence base, supporting improved public health interventions and decision-making.”

Marie recommends this placement programme to other organisations saying it provides an excellent opportunity to bring in talented, motivated individuals who contribute meaningfully to ongoing projects while gaining real-world experience. The programme fosters mutual benefits by addressing organisational needs and supporting student development.

Eleanor’s shares her advice for other MRC MMB students about to embark on their placements, “Aim to complete your placement in your second year, set up a good new routine at the outset, check what time you start on your first day; get to know your new work team, be prepared for independent working and finally, make the most of exploring a new city.”

• Applications are currently open for the Microbes, Microbiomes and Bioinformatics (MMB) Doctoral Training Programme