What is your name?
Rebekah Lily Bourne
Where are you from?
I’m originally from the UK but grew up in the Netherlands
Which class do you belong to?
MSc Translational Neuroscience 2025-26 cohort
Where and what did you study before joining Imperial College London?
I did a BA in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and specialised in neuroscience in my final year
How did you find your Master’s experience at the College?
I found the Master’s really interesting. What drew me to this course was the translational aspect: learning about the brain in the context of disease, and the ways it can fail us, is a very motivating angle for me. The diversity of assessment formats during the taught half, such as group presentations and hackathons, was both challenging and a great opportunity to become a more well-rounded and confident scientist and communicator
Which research project did you work on?
I did my MSc project at the Nott Lab, using post-mortem human brain tissue to investigate the mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease. My research focused on MITF, a transcription factor which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease in microglia. I worked towards optimising a CUT&Tag protocol to profile MITF-binding sites across the genome. Mapping these sites may help us better understand the disease-associated role of MITF and how it contributes to gene regulation
Where are you now?
I am in the UK
What are you working on?
I’m applying to PhD programmes to hopefully continue researching neurodegeneration
What is the most important lesson you learnt as a Master’s student?
I learnt which areas of neuroscience interested and motivated me (and which didn’t!), and a lot about how scientists approach asking and answering their questions. A big takeaway for me is the range of techniques that can be applied to the same research questions, across both wet- and dry-lab approaches. The interdependence of these two approaches, and the value of using both, really stood out to me
How did the Master’s programme help you get to where you are now?
The MSc introduced me to a wide range of research areas, people and perspectives. Especially during the taught half, collaborating on projects with students who had different academic backgrounds from mine, with degrees ranging from medicine to computer science and psychology, was a great opportunity to hear new perspectives and share ideas. The programme opened my eyes to new ways of thinking and encouraged me to pursue a career in research