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SofiiaF

88 karmaJoined sofiiabioblog.blogspot.com/
Interests:
BiosecurityLife sciencesBioethicsGlobal catastrophic biological risk

Bio

Participation
2

I am Sofiia, starting university next year to study biomedical science and in love with all things musicals, animals, biology, STEM, science, disability awareness, neurodiversity inclusion and more.

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Some links:

email: sofiiafurman.reachout@gmail.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiia-furman-8a6853340/

 

My bio blog: Sofiia Furman Biology Blog (plus some personal things on musicals, life, notes, podcast planning, conferences, papers, internships, wet and dry labs, lit reviews, rabbits, dogs, life with puppies, policy and comms, public and global health)

Currently volunteering and helping out with Leaf courses and other projects...

A bio podcast I run: Under the Microscope Biology Podcast (also YT and podcast apps under 'Under the Microscope Biology Podcast' or Insta/X/Threads/Facebook (mainly Insta and Threads) on @UTMPodcastbio

 

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My experiences

Starting Biomedical Science at Bath University 2025. Currently open to wet and dry lab biology experience, and upskilling in data analysis and bioinformatics. Help run Leaf courses. 
Past experience: founder of EAXplore, completed EA Intro, Handbook Calls, and CF2023 alum. Founder of school MedSoc and BSLSoc. 2nd Place in National Public Speaking at English Speaking Union 2022, winner of BrightIdeas Medical Research.
Podcast https://utmbiopod.buzzsprout.com/ on biologists doing good, blog https://sofiiabioblog.blogspot.com/

 

Pate's Grammar School Alevel and GCSE

  • Jul 2024 - Aug 2025
    • Grade: Biology A, Psychology A, Chemistry pending 2025
    • Grade: Biology A, Psychology A, Chemistry pending 20
  • Aug 2022 - Sep 2022
    • 9 A* (9 in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English Lit, English Lang, History, Geography, Drama and 8 in Higher Mathematics)

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    • Volunteer 2023-2024, Community Organiser 2024-nowVolunteer 2023-2024, Community Organiser 2024-now

      LeafLeafEducationEducation

      • After participating in online courses (Save 10 lives before age 20) and in person Changemaker Fellowship 2023, volunteered as student liason for History to Shape History cohorts, and as community manager for over 400 students in Summer 2024 in AI, History, Biology and Maths courses. Continuing on with helping out with admin, writing, safeguarding assistance and organisation.

    • Other experiences:Other experiences:

      • -2023 Changemaker Fellow: completed ‘save-10-lives’ programs and ‘EA VP’ and ran handbook calls on multiple different topics such as healthcare inequality, resource management and vaccine systems. Winner of ‘Explore Fellowship’ through biomedical talk
        -Won 2nd in UK in public speaking at ‘English Speaking Union 2022 public speaking competition’ on disability access and support, winner of debate and public speaking competitions on contraception, mental health, social media and others
        -Volunteer- tutor for SEND children, Y7 mentor, GP and health volunteering, animal centres, primary schools, kitchens and language teaching volunteer at weekend school
        -Proficiency in Russian (from Ukraine), BSL learner (and founded sign choir for over 250 students), CyberAdvanced, CyberFutures and GCHQ CyberFirst programs completed for 8 years in computer science and information security- working on biological overlap, including researching DNA and health data safety, biorisk mapping and in silico models
        -Advocate roles- science ambassador, disability access to higher education, Unifrog neurodiversity ambassador-2023 Changemaker Fellow: completed ‘save-10-lives’ programs and ‘EA VP’ and ran handbook calls on multiple different topics such as healthcare inequality, resource management and vaccine systems. Winner of ‘Explore Fellowship’ through biomedical talk -Won 2nd in UK in public speaking at ‘English Speaking Union 2022 public speaking competition’ on disability access and support, winner of debate and public speaking competitions on contraception, mental health, social media and others -Volunteer- tutor for SEND children, Y7 mentor, GP and health volunteering, animal centres, primary schools, kitchens and language teaching volunteer at weekend school -Proficiency in Russian (from Ukraine), BSL learner (and founded sign choir for over 250 students), CyberAdvanced, CyberFutures and GCHQ CyberFirst programs completed for 8 years in computer science and information security- working on biological overlap, including researching DNA and health data safety, biorisk mapping and in silico models -Advocate roles- science ambassador, disability access to higher education, Unifrog neurodiversity ambassador
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      Primary research and independent data analysis- Jan-Dec 2023Primary research and independent data analysis- Jan-Dec 2023

      • -Designed a primary study on ‘Ehlers Danlos syndromes and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis’ with 105 responses with statistically significant findings on new data trends in healthcare, media and symptoms experiences, conducted ethical reviews and wrote paper
        -Presented this research to a 400 seat lecture theatre at university research conference and won 1st prize-Designed a primary study on ‘Ehlers Danlos syndromes and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis’ with 105 responses with statistically significant findings on new data trends in healthcare, media and symptoms experiences, conducted ethical reviews and wrote paper -Presented this research to a 400 seat lecture theatre at university research conference and won 1st prize
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      Research and lab experience positions, including wet lab work at RG universities- summer 2021-22Research and lab experience positions, including wet lab work at RG universities- summer 2021-22

      • -Research, lab assistant and educational positions at multiple universities, including Bath, Bristol, Oxford, Warwick, Cambridge and others to gain understanding of biomedical innovations and develop technical skills
        -Partook in data analysis, source evaluation and paper critique, as well as wet lab work including on using microscopy to study cancerous stem cells, cytotoxicity differential staining, model animal use, preparing stock solutions, antimicrobial agents analysis, and use of lab equipment
        -Completed wet lab projects from scratch on ‘superfood solution affect on E coli agar plates’, as well as assisting in dry labs projects on cancer biology, immunology, genetics and antibiotic resistance
        -Wrote papers on scientific literature analysis, primary data and research methodology, gaining valuable biological foundation-Research, lab assistant and educational positions at multiple universities, including Bath, Bristol, Oxford, Warwick, Cambridge and others to gain understanding of biomedical innovations and develop technical skills -Partook in data analysis, source evaluation and paper critique, as well as wet lab work including on using microscopy to study cancerous stem cells, cytotoxicity differential staining, model animal use, preparing stock solutions, antimicrobial agents analysis, and use of lab equipment -Completed wet lab projects from scratch on ‘superfood solution affect on E coli agar plates’, as well as assisting in dry labs projects on cancer biology, immunology, genetics and antibiotic resistance -Wrote papers on scientific literature analysis, primary data and research methodology, gaining valuable biological foundation
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      Science leadership 2020-23Science leadership 2020-23

      • - Continued my role as science mentor and ran BrightScience groups for 5 years as team leader, and CREST award biology group
        - Founded and ran Y11 medical society, and online weekly discussion group on global health and public health, presented talks on biomedical science- Continued my role as science mentor and ran BrightScience groups for 5 years as team leader, and CREST award biology group - Founded and ran Y11 medical society, and online weekly discussion group on global health and public health, presented talks on biomedical science
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      Supercurricular biology education projects- 2020-23Supercurricular biology education projects- 2020-23

      • -Completed many education projects including lecture series, BrightIdeas, science research competitions, won scholarships and awards on biology essays
        -Cambridge PHD biology tutors program- did weekly small group tuition on cancer biology with literature review and academic poster design elements
        -Wrote and presented posters on TB, diabetes, clinical trials, conservation, medical access, antibiotic resistance, epigenetics and autoimmune diseases at many universities and youth conferences

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  • https://linktr.ee/underthemicroscopebiopodcast?subscribe

  • https://linktr.ee/sofiiaf


     

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  • Stay kind and curious!!

How others can help me

Wet and dry lab experience

Articles/book/podcast recommendations

Bioinformatics help with learning

Coauthoring papers?

How I can help others

Coauthoring papers

Researching for topics you need

Wet and dry lab interning

Comments
19

SofiiaF's Quick takes
SofiiaF8
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Biosecurity & pandemicsShow more

Quick Take:

In most educational settings or even healthcare campaigns for the general public, the only mosquito-borne disease highlighted prominently in the UK tends to be malaria, and most mosquito-borne diseases may be non-domestic in countries we'd consider HICs and with healthcare infrastructure, and yet turns out quite a few are considered now natively established in regions such as Spain, France, US, Croatia.

Currently doing a lit review on different methods of reducing populations, transmission or exposure to bites to control mosquito borne diseases, and that has more context, information and sources, but if anyone was considering doing some cause prio on types/vectors of disease we may want to work on/should consider, then here are some key mosquito-borne diseases that I feel get mentioned less.

Working on a longer write up but if it helps anyone considering wrapping their head around mosquito borne diseases, here is a short list of the most prominent diseases in terms of the burden of morbidity and mortality from worldwide disease, with a mention of endemic to HICs diseases:

Malaria

  • Protist Plasmodium spread by female Anopheles mosquitos
  • Spread directly during bites, minority spread through contaminated needles with infected blood and congenital in utero
  • Agnostic to most innate risk factors but sickle cell uni-recessive carriers appear to be immune, and external factors are mainly climatic region (living in endemic countries, near equator, international travel), malnutrition, working outdoors especially during evenings, working with animals
  • children or elderly are more susceptible
  • 90% of malarial deaths occur in Africa south of the Sahara and most are in children under 5
  • Testing is recommended after suspected bites or during local outbreaks, through microscopic blood smears or RDTs (expensive but can detect small pieces of malarial parasites), or lab PCR testing (most accurate especially to determine species but highly rare, specialised and very expensive)
  • Prevention involves removing stagnant water, pouring oil in wells, reducing malarial breeding, spraying insecticides, barrier nets, remaining indoors and during peak mosquito periods, staying away from hotspots, and more
  • Currently no protective individual measures are highly effective, some very expensive chemicals (especially DEET insect repellants) are good external measures but can cause injury to living beings, and anti malarial drugs have questionable protection or cost effectiveness
  • Treatment depends on the type of malaria and severity of illness, and is usually artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) and are typically used for chloroquine-resistant malaria
  • Treatments can not be given preventatively in a cheap or safe way, and have severe side effects, or contribute to resistance if incorrect treatments are given (eg chloroquine phosphates for resistant strains)

Chikungunya

  • Found usually in Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Indian islands but infected travellers can spread further
  • Most common symptoms are fevers and joint pain so can be confused or mistreated as other conditions such as flu
  • No medication to treat chikungunya so only prevention to either limit likelihood of being bitten or having vaccinations before travels
  • A type of alphavirus (such as Mayaro and Ross River virus), and spreads during bites, and people with high enough levels of virus in their blood (viremia) in the first few days can transmit the virus to new mosquitos that bite them, or spread during blood exchanges such as transfusions, in utero, during organ transplants, through contaminated needles and more
  • The virus is not spread through touching, coughing or person to person however many fear campaigns and misinformation around it can cause isolation which further complicates access to care and can be detrimental to the social and emotional wellbeing of infected individuals
  • One vaccine (IXCHIQ) is available (mainly in the US for foreign travellers) but is very expensive and not approved for under 18s

Dengue fever

  • Of most of these diseases, dengue is the most likely to get better on its own and is usually mild, but in some people can cause severe illness
  • Found mainly in tropical areas, but also in Croatia, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal
  • Symptoms are once again vague, such as temperature, headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain and rash
  • Severe dengue can lead to seizures, dehydration, bleeding gums, and death
  • Treatment is usually resting and fluids and over the counter painkillers, but anti inflammatories such as NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen) can intensify bleeding
  • Dengue is also multiinfective and having dengue previously increases the risk of severe illness at reinfection
  • The only prevention is preventing mosquito bites, a vaccine is available but is usually limited to US and UK travellers and is only privately funded

Yellow fever

  • Found mainly in Africa, the South and Central America
  • Vaccines are much more common but still only readibly available in countries that have robust healthcare access
  • Aside from vaccines, the only prevention is avoiding mosquito bites, and symptoms are once again common such as temperature and headache, but can also lead to bleeding from the eyes and mouth, dark pee and jaundice
  • Treatment also includes over the counter painkillers and fluids, but yellow fever tends to be quite deadly in young children, those with preexisting liver conditions, and elderly
  • Unlike the previous disorders, the vaccine is more available (for a price) and is highly effective and safe for anyone over 9 months old, and recommendations include vaccines at least 10 days before travelling to at risk areas, and revaccination is also safe if past exposure is unknown
  • The prophylaxis effect is lifelong, the cost tends to be around £85 which is highly affordable for most travellers, but out of reach for most endemic countries

Eastern Equine Encephalitis

  • Found mainly in North America and the Caribbean and is one of the 2 most deadly mosquito-borne diseases in the US, and is closely related to Madariaga virus
  • Can circulate between mosquitos and birds that are near freshwater hardwood swamps, some animals (emus) can also become bridge vectors by feeding birds and humans, whilst people (and horses) are ‘dead end’ hosts as they do not spread the virus, even if they get infected. (but one case did have 3 recipients of organ transplants from an infected donor who were infected)
  • Prevention also relies on preventing mosquito bites, and no specific treatment exists, only  pain control and hydration to try to reduce meningeal symptoms as supportive measures

West Equine Encephalitis

  • Very similar to EEE but most people who get infected don’t get sick, no vaccines or prevention aside from avoiding bites, and tends to cause sporadic outbreaks of disease in horses and people, but risk increases from summer to fall

St Louis Encephalitis

  • Very similar to previous diseases, but most people don’t display symptoms, however encephalitis complications and meningitis is common in at risk groups, and no vaccine or prevention aside from avoiding bites exists

West Nile

  • 80% of people don’t display symptoms but about 1% develop severe CNS encephalitis and 50% of infections occur in over 60s, about 10% of those who get nervous inflammation pass away
  • No specific treatment or vaccine but lifelong immunity is common in healthy individuals after a past infection

Marburg

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Pineapples on Mars, why you should stop looking at orgs for cause prio, and how we compare: an INT dissection for beginners
SofiiaF1
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Clarification: by not changing biases, I meant 'don't try to change intuitive society bias such as valuing cuteness' for effectiveness, but rather work with them to our advantage. E.g. if I was raising money for animals, maybe don't pick a cockroach. You could- to get the shock factor and some uniqueness/bust stereotypes- but you are climbing an uphill battle when bigger wars are needed.

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Anti-science in a time of disease and Big Wellness
SofiiaF1
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How is this?

 

Is Big Pharma hiding the cure for cancer? No but someone else is*

The rise of antiscience and why Big Wellness is hiding cures

TLDR: There is unlikely to be a promising cure or new management that would be completely buried (even if delayed)by for profit pharmaceuticals, due to a mix of diverse stakeholders, non profits in the space, and 'first to beat' reasoning. Pharmaceuticals are villified more than alternative medicines despite having documents side effects and processes rather than the potential for harm from unlicensed herbal, supplemental and other forms, plus branches such as chiropractics, naturopathy, homeopathy and more are being conflated as 'leaning into lifestyle changes' rather than for their pseudoscientific origins, blurring the lines between science as a process and science as an entity to attack. Historically, scientists and clinicians have done a bad job (through many factors) of representing these diverse cultures and voices, but alternative medicine should not have a seat at the table as it does more harm than good.

PREMISE: Big Pharma wants you sick

2. What is 'Big Pharma'

3. The pharmaceutical landscape

4. Worldwide pharmaceuticals

5. Risk and reward in pharmaceuticals

6. HPV vaccines and Big Pharma's interest in a cure

7. Nocebo effects, clinical trial optics and fall guys

8. Big Pharma can't veto a cure

9. The basis of Big Wellness

10. Alternative medicine origins

11. The scientific process

12. The rise of anti science

13. Pseudoscience vs natural medicine

14. The marketing of Wellness

15. Chiropractics and scams

16. Homeopathy and hoaxes

17. Future of science

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SofiiaF's Quick takes
SofiiaF1
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Global healthShow more

How much of EA comms is angled at funders/donors vs academics/researchers/peers ve general public. Which ones are most effective at bringing about 'change' in the broad sense, e.g. technical papers or more general for policy proposals in general governments? And does the rise of illiteracy mean shifting from say age 16-18 educated level to around age 10 (as suggested by the mean and median US reading level) for our assumed audience style?

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Why the current mass science data deletion should be a key priority according to the INT framework
SofiiaF4
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There are some anonymous whistle lowers but nothing verified so im going under the assumption whether deleted or removed they are both removing short term access and we need an alternative central point for critical information.

 

I sincerely hope it's just offline but honestly the order was to remove it, but nothing in terms of specifics, and deleting it seems like a logical next step unfortunately in the way it's currently going.

 

I am crossing my fingers the orders are reversed and they are brought back, but without dynamic updates and a central resource point, global health and public data is in jeopardy in my opinion. 

 

They've also closed freedom of information request forms to ask for the data or papers. So can't access it even in case by case requests.

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Looking for individuals to help create an open, free, accessible community to track and share global health and medical resources to bridge info loss and scientific deletion
SofiiaF1
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Thank you so much for being proactive! It's true partial archives of some CDC datasets have been done, but the issue is is it's usually dynamic, in the sense that guidelines get republished each week (or day for outbreaks) and get updated continually. Furthermore, IA is working on archiving datasets, but downloading or using them only brings the static dataset without necessarily capturing the actual sitemap schema for navigation. Plus IA and EOT are great but are begging people to help out to decentralised our dependandance and provide alternatives if they get targeted. 

At the very least, the hope is the most critical day to day functioning information can be reported and provided.

For example, HIV prescribing guidelines for clinicians and NGOs valid since last week have been put onto the doc, and vaccine information sheets valid from 28 Jan 2025 also put onto the doc if anyone needs them.

 

But thank you for looking into it 💕

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Looking for individuals to help create an open, free, accessible community to track and share global health and medical resources to bridge info loss and scientific deletion
SofiiaF3
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Thanks for the question! Should have provided context. With new executive orders, entire databases are being deleted of open sourc public academic data. Efforts to retain access are kind of disparate and keeping track is hard, whilst datasets are too big for lone people to download and archive or host.

For example, here's a short excerpt of just some of the deletions since yesterday (started collating to keep track in the masterdoc, hoping to make a website/distribution etc):

 


PAPERS AND TOPICS DELETED or UNAVAILABLE: (as of 2/2/25) AND ALTERNATIVE SOURCES (IF AVAILABLE)

 

Broad topics:

 

 

TO SORT: Deletions and removals

  • INCLUSIVE PRACTICES FOR HELPING STUDENTS THRIVE
  • YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOUR SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM
  • PREVENTING CHRONIC DISEASE | SEXUAL RISK FACTORS
  • SEXUAL HEALTH RISK ADVISORY CONCERNS
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  • Also down was AtlasPlus, an interactive tool that lets users analyze CDC data on HIV, STDs, TB and viral hepatitis, and the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index, data that helps researchers and public policy leaders identify communities that are vulnerable to the effects of disasters and public health emergencies.
  • A page about food safety during pregnancy called “Safer Food Choices for Pregnant People” was also removed.
  • CDC with surveillance data on HIV, viral hepatitis, STDs and TB. Also gone missing: a page with basic information about HIV testing. The CDC's Social Vulnerability Index, a tool that assesses community resilience in the event of natural disaster was also taken down.
  • For the first time in 60 years, MMWR weekly morbidity and mortality report isn’t published
  • Vaccine info sheets
  • As of Friday afternoon, several CDC pages related to HIV were down, including the CDC’s HIV index page, testing page, datasets, national surveillance reports and causes pages.
  • Many of the CDC’s sites related to LGBTQ youth were also removed, including pages that mentioned LGBT children’s risk of suicide, those focused on creating safe schools for LGBTQ youth and a page focused on health disparities among LGBTQ youth.
  • The site for the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System — a long-running survey that tracks health behaviors among high school students in the United States — said “The page you’re looking for was not found.”
  • Several webpages from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with references to LGBTQ+ health were no longer available. A page from the HHS Office for Civil Rights outlining the rights of LGBTQ+ people in health care settings was also gone as of Friday. The website of the National Institutes of Health's Office for Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office disappeared.
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Five Tractable Biosecurity Projects You Could Start Tomorrow
SofiiaF0
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Thank you so much for this! Amazing to see some application-based ways to make an impact with biology/health!

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DALYs and Disabilities guest speaker?
SofiiaF1
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Thank you so much for both these amazing suggestions!!!

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