Profile

John Clark-Corrigall
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About Me:
I live in Gateshead, just across the river Tyne from Newcastle, in the north east of England with my Mam, Dad and dog Elsa. When I’m not studying bacteria, I like to run long distances, go to comedy shows and watching science fiction films and TV.
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I live in Gateshead which is a beautiful patch of the North East, with my parents and dog. I assist with care responsibilities for them as well as the usual jobs from shuttling the big shop in, walking the dog , coordinating professional family photographs at the past graduations so there’s new artwork for the fridge/mantelpiece.
I was a competitive swimmer in my youth, so absolutely love exercise and feel lost without it. I swim less than I used to because the early swim sessions are usually packed and nobody needs the lane rage of people tapping your feet or chatting at the wall to start or finish your day. I took up running on a recommendation to do Parkrun on a Saturday and I adored it, the community is lush, the scenery is too, you feel incredible afterwards. Bliss! It kick started a habit, I ran the 2019 Great North Run after about 8 months of parkrunning, then kept running through the winter, then the pandemic hit and my hour of allocated exercise at the park on my doorstep was an ideal opportunity to improve my running, 6 – 8 miles in the hour 3 times a week was where I was at when I started my PhD. There wasn’t a lot to do with lockdowns still going and living with high risk people so I ended up training for a 34 mile Ultra Marathon. I’ve done 2, absolute glutton for punishment.
Comedy is a joy, I love podcasts and live gigs. When the days are hard the most catharsis comes from laughter. Elis James and John Robins are two of my favourite comics.
And science fiction, arguably one of things that kickstarted my interest in sciences. I was raised on a healthy diet of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Jurassic Park. Then Doctor Who returned to TV when I was 10, I didn’t stand a chance. I was and still am hooked!
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My pronouns are:
He/Him
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My Work:
I look at how disease causing bacteria interact with bacteria in the gut, some of these gut based bacteria are called probiotics. These aren’t like probiotics you might’ve heard of in your activias, your actimels or your yakaults, they’re superheroes that come from our guts and have been used as supplements for digestion problems for over 50years!!.
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My work is a lot like the good, the bad and the ugly. The good bacteria I work with are called probiotic E.coli, compared to other bacteria in the gut the percentage of E.coli there is 0.1%. But they do help in a lot of ways to stop other bacteria from infecting the gut. Some of the E.coli I work on were isolated from poo samples over 100 years ago!! And they might be present in yours too!
The bad, disease causing bacteria that I work with is Salmonella, it causes a broad range of disease from food poisoning to Typhoid fever. The type I work on causes food poisoning, and the common symptom of diarrhoea. Most times your own bacteria keep them out but like Dr Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park says “Life, finds a way”. And they have really cool ways of rebuilding their numbers, making the environment better for them and evading the immune system.
And that’s where the ugly side comes in, working with bacteria there are lots of smells and gruesome sights and origins to some of the discoveries of gut bacteria.
But I love it, there’s so much cool work using simple and more complex techniques that really make you think. I saw one group made cells burst in the presence of another disease causing bacteria and I sat watching the video on repeat for ages. It’s a lovely bit of fun!
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Education:
I went to St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School, in Blaydon, Gateshead (2006 – 2013) before studying my degree in Biomedical Science at University of Sunderland, (2013-2016) I then did a postgraduate masters degree in Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at Newcastle University (project at Durham University) (2016-2017) before starting my PhD in Molecular Microbiology at Newcastle University on a fully funded BBSRC PhD programme.
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Qualifications:
GCSEs – (2010&2011)
A-Levels – A2; Biology – C, Chemistry – D, PE – B, As; Maths – E (2012&2013)
Newcastle University Partners Programme – Pass (2013)
First Class Honours in Biomedical Sciences (BSc) from University of Sunderland (2016)
Pass with Merit in Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine from Newcastle University (2017)
Pool Lifeguard Qualification (PLG) from Royal Life Saving Society (2013)
Level 1 & 2 Swimming Teacher from Swim England (2018)
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Work History:
- UK School Games Announcer – Swimming (2010)
- Volunteer carer at Hexham and Newcastle Lourdes Pilgrimage (2012)
- Pool Lifeguard (2014 – 2020)
- Summer Project Student (2016)
- Research Scientist ( 2017, 2018, 2019-20)
- Swimming Teacher (2018)
- PhD Management committee member/ ambassador (2020 – present)
- Pint of Science Newcastle upon Tyne – Our Body Theme organiser (2022)
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Employer:
Newcastle University
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
First a pilot then a doctor ((medical not Doctor Who (although that would be brilliant!)), then a cool scientist like Tony Stark or Dr Henry Jones jr or Dr Brian Cox but for medical science
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
a comedian or an adventurer
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Sam Fender or ABBA
What's your favourite food?
Lasagna
Tell us a joke.
A roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers and goes five beers please barkeep
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