Tobi Alegbe’s first year at Darwin involved “a bit of soul-searching,” he says. Not because he was in any doubt that he was in the right place at the right time – although the onset of the pandemic might have given him pause for thought. But simply because the first year of his PhD in Mathematical Genomics and Medicine had a built-in opportunity to rotate between specialisms, finding the right fit.
After a stint at Cancer Research UK exploring cancer genomics, Tobi was absorbed by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, in Hinxton, where his PhD focused on single-cell RNA sequencing of individuals with inflammatory bowel diseases.
“It was a big team effort,” he says of his work there. “My PhD was entirely dry-lab, meaning I did all my work on a computer, analysing data from gut biopsies collected at Addenbrooke’s and processed by the wet lab team at Sanger”.
Collectively, the team aimed to improve understanding of inflammatory bowel diseases by identifying the regions of the genome which influence disease risk, progression and response to therapy.
“Inflammatory bowel diseases are currently incurable, and many existing treatments lose efficacy over time,” he explains. “So the overall aim is to work towards generating novel, effective treatments.”
Before coming to Cambridge, Tobi completed an undergraduate MSci in Biological Sciences at UCL, and a MSc in Bioinformatics at the University of Copenhagen. He applied to Darwin after learning that it was postgraduate only and “secluded”, and admits that the Darwin name also had an unavoidable resonance for a biologist.
“Everyone I spoke to mentioned what a special community it was, and now I’m saying the same thing to everyone who asks.”
Access to the river proved a particular advantage of Darwin life during the pandemic, when Tobi gave socially distanced punting lessons, going on to become Admiral of the Punts in his final year.
“Because I was based in Hinxton I wasn’t around much in College during the day, but it was nice to have the change of pace to come back to, and being able to use the Reading Room. I also really enjoyed the Punt Club and what it brings to the College.”
Hinxton will be holding onto him for a while longer, as Tobi is now working as a single-cell data scientist for Open Targets, a public-private partnership using genomics data for drug target identification.
“It’s a link between academia and industry, bringing together data to find solutions.”
Tobi will graduate on 30th November with a PhD in Mathematical Genomics and Medicine.
