Daniel Marcu

Project: Every sperm is sacred – or maybe not?
Supervisor: Simone Immler

I became fascinated by science at a young age. Choosing Biology and Chemistry as main subjects in high school gave me a good foundation for a degree in science at university. While at university I was fascinated by scientific research and wanted to contribute to driving this amazing field forward.

While undertaking my bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science I was fortunate for having had two summer internships in a research laboratory and in a clinical laboratory where I was exposed to different aspects of the biomedical sciences field. Moreover, while studying for my bachelor’s, personalised medicine and genetics have appealed to me and led me to continue my studies at postgraduate level in Prenatal Genetics and Fetal Medicine. Being exposed to the latest advances in the field of reproduction and to the cutting-edge technology to address infertility, led me to pursue a PhD in reproductive biology at the University of East Anglia (UEA). My research focusses on identifying the underlying genetic mechanisms responsible for sperm selection in zebrafish and humans. Besides science, I am interested in all aspects related to equality and diversity (ED) and I currently lead the ED blog in BIO at UEA. The Doctoral Training Partnership in Norwich appealed to me due to its strong support network, personal and professional development courses and the internship placement.