Elisavet Velentza-Almpani: ‘I became more confident, independent and stronger’
What is your name?
Elisavet Velentza-Almpani
Where are you from?
Greece
To which class you belong to?
MSc Translational Neuroscience, Class of 2018
Where and what did you study before joining Imperial College London?
I studied Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in Greece
How did you find your Master experience at the College?
Studying Translational Neuroscience was a quite interesting and challenging experience for me
Which research project did you work on?
I performed my MSc dissertation in the Laboratory of Gene Therapy, under the supervision of Prof. Nicholas Mazarakis. The project was focused on the comparison of the retrograde axonal transport efficiency of physiological and synthetic rabies virus glycoproteins as well as in the establishment of a viral vector-based model of Parkinson’s disease
Where are you now?
I am still in London to continue my studies
What are you working on?
I am a second-year PhD student at the College. I am working in the Laboratory of Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology and the Laboratory of Gene Therapy
What is the most important lesson you learnt as a Master student?
To never give up and let the tough competition challenge your potential. I faced a lot of difficulties at the beginning of the degree, especially with the language, the assessments, the antagonism etc. But by the end of it, I became more confident, independent and stronger
How did the Master programme help you get to where you are now?
It helped me to acquire a strong knowledge in the field of Neuroscience and to be equipped with various skills and laboratory techniques. I had the chance to meet and work with scientists that supported me and helped me to be where I am today