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Dave Baker

Vote Davo!!!!!!

    • About Me:

      I run the DNA sequencing facility at the Quadram, I love all things football related and manage an under 12’s football team. I love going the the Greek Island of Corfu for my holidays.

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      The Quadram is the 4th government research institute I’ve worked at in the last 30 years. During the covid pandemic I developed a cheap robust method for looking for the variants and sequenced 87000 just in my small modest lab!

      I’ve played football all my life and now focus on coaching in junior football

    • My pronouns are:

      he/him

    • My Work:

      DNA Sequencing of microbes and microbial communities (Poo!!…not the bear) to improve human health.

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      Prepare and run DNA sequencing machines… sounds easy. We manipulate DNA to enable it to be visualised on a number of different machines. Including Illumina, PacBio and Nanopore. The last two are long read Next Generation sequencers… ask me about them!

       

       

    • My Typical Day:

      Check emails, go into lab, defrost reagents, quantify DNA, incubate DNA, bind DNA to a magnet, PCR, quantify, normalise DNA, prepare DNA Sequencer, load sequencer, monitor run and analyse results. Go to talks and network with other scientists.

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    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      Bring a group of children with special needs and/or learning difficulties from a local school to QIB for the day to include tours, talks and activities.

    CV

    • Education:

      Braunton School 83-88, North Devon College 88-91, Oxford Brookes 91-94

    • Qualifications:

      BTEC First/ National Diploma in Engineering, A level’s Maths and Physics, 1st Class degree in Mechanical Engineering

    • Work History:

      1995-2002 The Sainsbury Lab, 2002-2009 John Innes Centre, 2009 -2017 Earlham Institute, Food Forensics 2017-2018

    • Current Job:

      Head of Sequencing

    • Employer:

      Quadram Institute

    • My Interview

      • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

        dedicated, humorous, sporty

        What did you want to be after you left school?

        Footballer

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Always, once I electrocuted a fellow pupil in science, long story...

        If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

        Teacher

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        Vampire Weekend

        What's your favourite food?

        Spanish, Greek and Indian

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        Health, happiness and to win the lottery!

        Tell us a joke.

        Why was the computer grumpy when he got home from work? He had a hard drive!

Questions answered by Dave

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