Dr. Martha Cooper studied Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, UK. She then moved to Australia in 2016 where she did her PhD at the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine. Martha’s PhD focused on computational immunology to profile anti-parasitic immune responses in humans. After a Postdoc investigating immunity to malaria infection, using data mining and biostatistics, Martha started at Microba Life Sciences in 2021, where she is now a Senior Scientist in Data Science.

Dr. Martha Cooper chats to Zoé about her career journey, from learning to code during her PhD, searching for a team-focused work environment and her current role as Senior Data Scientist at Microba Life Sciences in Australia. She shares insights into the different benchmarks of success in industry vs academia and her advice on following our own interests.  

“Find what you enjoy and really work on developing those specific skills” 

You can connect with Martha via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martha-cooper-56b3a9216

Github: https://github.com/MarthaCooper

Time stamps:

01:30 Martha's PhD experience

04:40 What were you looking for in a career after your PhD?

08:45 Martha's current role. What is a Senior Scientist in Data Science?

10:35 What is your typical day?

14:00 What skills from your PhD do you use in your current job?

16:50 What are your roses and thorns?

20:50 What advice would you have for PhDs and postdocs?

23:20 5-year-plan or go with the flow?

24:30 How would you suggest applying for similar jobs?

25:45 How to get in contact with Martha