Professor Zahid Pranjol, PhD
Deputy Head of School for Education at the School of Life Sciences, Professor in Biomedical Science Education, University of Sussex
MSc Molecular Biology and Pathology of Viruses graduate (Class of 2012)
Tell us more about who you are and what you do?
I’m a Professor in biomedical science and currently have a leadership position in the University of Sussex as the Deputy Head of School for Education at the School of Life Sciences.
Part of this role is teaching and I oversee all education matters in five departments, 10 undergraduate degrees and eight master's courses. I'm the lead for student experience and race equity and I still teach on some modules, and really enjoy doing this.
Could you tell us more about your career trajectory of what your studies, what you went onto and how you got to where you are today?
After my master's in molecular biology and pathology of viruses, I went onto PhD programme at Exeter Medical School that was a fully funded scholarship for 3 years on cancer research.
I have a lot of students ask me – how did you move from viruses to a different field like cancer? There is a story behind this. When I was at Imperial, I did a project with Professor Amin Hajitou. Michael McGarvey, the previous lead of the master's course, told me that I should do something clinical because I always enjoyed the medical side of research. He proposed that I should do this project with Amin because it was more clinical, and more suited to my interests. I did a six months project and for me, it was much more than a project. We became friends and I still talk to Amin every now and then.
I learned a huge amount during this project which was in cancer research. We were looking at how we can use a virus to treat brain cancer. This then helped me go into cancer research from a PhD.
How did this link with your aspirations at the time? Did you always imagine you would be in cancer research?
I always wanted to do go into cancer research, even back in Year 10, and I was very lucky to get this funding for my PhD. The way Amin was – he is a true mentor, and he encouraged me, inspired me in a very positive way and gave me the freedom to try things out in the lab. He knew I was very passionate and would let me see what would happen.
Those six months at the Hammersmith Hospital Campus was eye opening for me in a way. It taught me how research works, what I can do as a researcher, the aspect of teaching, the collaborations and conferences, and networking and traveling to another country for you to present your work, and publishing. I was exposed to it all by my time at the Hammersmith Hospital Campus.
What was your course structure like?
The course was and still is 50% taught 50% research. We finished our exams and the taught element by February or March and then we started the research in March until the end of August and it was six months of full research.
The good thing with this program is that it gives you enough time to experience what research is, and a lot of students go in to do a master’s course not knowing if they want to do a PhD, so in that research time they will find out for sure.
Do you have a particular highlight of your time at Imperial? What do you remember the most?
I was a student representative for this course which meant I used to work with academics, the student union and academic officers. What I really enjoyed was feeding back to the committee. I was quite active with gathering feedback from students and asking them ‘How is it going? Are you fine? Is there something that can improve?’. I sat on those committees and for me that was a highlight - to be part of the student body.
Most students, when they come to Imperial to do a master's they have a very academic focus and I also utilised my time to do that too and get into my PhD programme.
What did you wish you knew before pursuing a master’s degree at Imperial?
I wish I knew the amount we had to do in the autumn term. I remember when we started in September, and everyone seemed really chill and relaxed but then I remember my friends and I spoke in first week about how we felt that this was an intense course. I wish I knew how much work it was to do a master’s degree, but I think that’s the only thing I didn’t know. It was however fine in the end.
I also found the diversity and acceptance of different cultures and backgrounds of people is fantastic. I mean it is London, but we had international students from Iraq, Denmark, Yemen, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and we all got on together and would go out every now and then. I didn’t know there would be this social aspect and I really enjoyed it.
What advice would you give to potential student of the programme?
You will be taught by the world’s top scientists, and you may see them online or on TV and you will feel privileged to be at Imperial. But if you get in, while you are at Imperial make sure you get to know them. There is so much you can learn from them. It’s not about just viruses but also about finding out which fields these scientists have come from and how they got to this stage in life. Ask them!
I remember I once stopped Professor Wendy Barclay in a lecture and asked her about what she does and she told me about her flu and her influenza work, and that she is going to Hong Kong the week after. That is inspiring – these scientists are the top people in the world so it is a great privilege to be taught by them.
My other piece of advice is that you can definitely do the course. I tell all my students to go and do this master's if they can. It will change the way you see the world and your experience. You will grow as a person with more wisdom and knowledge because you are mentored by people who are so successful.
The mentors who mentored me shaped the way I approach tasks and how I think about research questions. It has a huge impact, and you don’t realise it at the time.
It is evident you are so passionate about teaching a learning and the student experience. Looking at your own undergraduate and master’s programmes, do you think this teaching has translated across into your own teaching?
Whenever I think about young students who are joining undergraduate or master's programmes, I try and think about how I would feel about my own experience in my master’s and the opportunities that I was given. I have a very holistic approach, and I listen to students, I mentor them, and I find that I learn from them. I always tell them that learning is not just me teaching you, it's also me learning from you.
I tend to look at myself and try and understand how I would have liked to have been taught when I was 20 years old, and I then teach them in the same way, and it works.
Is there anything else you would like to say in general about your experience at Imperial or anyone you would particularly like to thank?
I want to mention that while at Imperial during my master's I was able to publish two papers, one in a very high impact journal and the other was a review paper from my master’s thesis.
But I want to thank a lot of people generally in the Department of Infectious Disease. I spoke to Michael McGarvey when he retired, and I told him the story of how he pushed me to work with Amin. Without him and without Amin’s mentorship and the way he guided me into my PhD, I would not be here today.