Students

Emma Watson

Investigating proteins produced by blood feeding organisms, University of Sydney

In the scientific world there is a distinction between fundamental research and applied research. Simply put, fundamental research expands on our scientific knowledge and then applied research focuses that knowledge to a specific application. Musical-theatre loving scientist Emma Watson is a fundamental research scientist. Emma works with proteins, specifically anticoagulant proteins produced by blood feeding organisms. When a tick or leach bites us, the proteins in its saliva stops the blood from clotting and keeps flowing. Expanding our scientific knowledge of these proteins can then be applied to so many areas in medical treatments alone; stroke, deep vein thrombosis and cancer to name just a few.