Question: Why did you choose to study aging?

Georgia Campbell answered on 17 Jun 2011:

Hi becky,

I honestly didn’t choose to study againg specifically. I’ve always been interested in the links between mutations of DNA and diseases, and I was lucky enough to get a PhD looking at how mitochondrial DNA mutations cause lots of different illnesses – it just so happens that these tend to be ‘aging diseases’. Applying for PhDs is very different to choosing A-Levels or applying for a degree – every PhD is different, as they’re supposed to be ‘unique research’, and PhDs on offer are different every year. You tend to apply for lots of different things within quite a broad research area, and learn more about your particular topic when you get accepted onto a course. I hardly knew anything about mitochondria until I started my PhD!

I do think that research on aging is really important though – the average life expecancy is always increasing, so its important for us to keep finding more ways to make sure we age healthily, and try to decrease the amount of debilitating againg diseases!