Meet Zhi Wong

What year are you and what is your PhD on? 

I started my PhD in 2021 and I am now in my third year. My PhD is about understanding the mechanisms of lymphocytes compartmentalisation in autoimmune diseases, particularly looking at rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases.

What is your day-to-day like? What does your research involve? 

My day-to-day involves doing experiments (my favourite techniques are qPCR and Western Blotting), planning experiments and this would make up half of the time, and the other half would involve brainstorming and discussion with peers or postdocs, reading research papers, responding to emails. 

What is your background? And what brought you to a DPhil at NDORMS? 

I am a pharmacist by training, but I have always enjoyed lab research ever since my first lab summer placement in the university. Kennedy Institute is well known for the immunology research and I have developed an interest in immunology during my MRes at Department of Oncology. Besides, Kennedy Trust has been very generous in funding my expensive international student fees.

What is it like to be a DPhil student at NDORMS? 

I am proud to be able to do my PhD research at NDORMS and Kennedy Institute. The department has always been supportive towards the students. Besides, there are many talented scientists and postdocs available in the institute, which gives me great opportunity to learn from them. When things happen, I would never run short of people to ask for advice or help.

What is it like to be a DPhil student at Oxford? 

At Oxford, I am exposed to many brilliant scientists and generally this is a very collaborative and open environment.