Ramona Britto

I founded First Principles in 2020 as a platform to reach out to others who shared a deep seated need to return to first principles for all manner of issues. (I consider this one of my core strengths and a trait that has both amused and annoyed people over the years in equal measure). After deciding that inattention was the root of almost all problems - and that mindfulness was key, I went on to use this platform as a trojan horse - a way of bringing mindfulness to audiences that would otherwise not actively engage (aka the average Cambridge academic). Earlier this year I extended an invite to other coaches to collaborate on this venture. We hope that by coming together and de-mystifying the coaching process we can add value both to the network and the people we serve.

Spearheaded a team of scientists to deliver the Proteomes project. This formed the core of UniProt, the world's largest protein resource and responsible for delivering protein sets derived from sequenced genomes to scientists and clinicians around the world.

Delivered training, both in-person and webinars for the UniProt consortium and the international Society for Biocuration. This included training visiting scientists on campus and at events around the world (Toronto/Beijing/Geneva and Cambridge). Archived webinars are available on the EMBL Youtube channel.

Developed a novel cross-species system to prioritise candidate genes from large-scale genomic studies. I used this system to identify target genes for reproductive disorders which I went on to validate using an animal model.

Facilitated workshops at Naantali (Finland), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (USA) and the Isle of Elba (Italy).

This was my first experience going in-depth into the workings of a single gene/protein. I identified a novel protein for the diagnosis and treatment of astrocytoma and validated this in normal and diseased brain samples. I also proposed a mechanism of action on the system as a whole.

I collaborated on several projects with the the local cancer hospital and neuroscience institute which resulted in many research publications during this period.