Arantza Barrios – Associate Professor, CDB

How did you arrive at CDB?    My mum finished school when she was 14 years old and became a hairdresser, and my father was an engineer, so I had no biologist role model at home!  But in the 1980s, I watched TV programmes that made scientists look cool and they always saved the day, which inspired my interest in science.  I liked biology and genetics at school, so I ended up reading biology at Barcelona University.

After graduating in 1996, I started a PhD, but soon thought “This is not for me” and wanted to quit! But my dad told me I had to finish it, and by the end, I was enjoying it. I became interested in what makes animals do what they do. 

I had initially come to the UK via Erasmus (an EU student exchange program that allows students to study or intern in another European country for a set period).  I really liked London, so I wanted to stay. Although I went to the US for a while as a post-doctoral researcher, I eventually came back.  I like UCL and the people.  Most people come back to UCL, and those who don’t, never leave in the first place! 

What would you advise someone on choosing a career?

My advice would be to try to do what you like and not what others think you should like (e.g., to get married, have children, live in your original country). You can’t move with someone else’s fire inside you.

What are you mainly focused on now and for the future? 

I chose a system of neurobiology and a physiologically easy-to-work-with organism –  the worm, C elegans.  My lab now focuses on how memories are behaviourally expressed in the worm. Like us humans, worm’s experiences impact how its neurons work, but not all of this translates into behaviour. It’s important to know what makes some memories ‘silent’ and what makes others expressed.  We’ve already done some work, and we’re aiming to get more funding for our future work. 

I also aim to keep really good bonds with people through life.  I’ve got really long-term and close friends. 

What do you do now to chill and get work-life balance?

After doing ballet and gymnastics as a child, I wanted to do acrobatics.  I first studied here at the circus school in Shoreditch, and then in New York, when I was part of a circus troupe.  But I stopped when I came back to London; at first, it was all work and no fun.  I had no work-life balance.

Since then, I’ve learned to compartmentalise – I try to transmit this idea to people in my lab. I try to help them to go home, stop thinking about work, and think about something else.  For balance, I now do music, cinema, garden; normal things!

Would you recommend joining UCL CDB?

Yes, and I think that CDB has changed a lot while I’ve been here – for the better: the post-docs got organised; Athena Swan (aims to advance gender equality in higher education and research) became a ‘thing’; and management has increased in transparency.