Kira Shaw is nominated in the Lab Heroes Awards 2020
Kira Shaw, Energy Lab, University of Sussex, UK
"Kira is a postdoc in the Brain Energy Lab, working on neurovascular coupling in the hippocampus and cortex. She is an incredibly hard worker, and has driven several key projects in our labs. Despite being busy with these projects, she is always happy to lend a hand. She really personifies the saying, a problem shared is a problem halved. Whether this is a problem with equipment, experiments or data analysis, she will always be the first to offer her help.
On top of her regular research work, she is a tremendous mentor for everyone in the lab. She has trained most of the lab members in imaging and programming, all of this with the patience of a saint. Not only that, she has done it with a smile on her face and with such enthusiasm that it doesn’t make you feel bad for asking for help in the first place. Whatever issue you have, you will always get genuine, insightful and invaluable input. She is the best cheerleader anyone could ask for, and lifts all her lab members up any chance she gets. I’m pretty sure without her most of us wouldn’t have been able to complete our PhDs, we truly owe her so much.
Her motto is to ‘pay it forward’. She encourages everybody else in the lab to help each other, and as such contributes tremendously to a positive lab environment. In addition, she has co-founded a coding club to help teach programming to the wider neuroscience community at our university. I believe this attitude does not only affect the people she comes in contact which, but affects even people beyond, just by sharing this idea of paying it forward."
Dori Grijseels, Brain Energy Lab, University of Sussex, UK
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Who's your Lab Hero?
This is your chance to give back to the scientists who make – or who have made – a positive difference to your life, career, and workplace. That might be putting in extra effort in the lab, supporting their colleagues in difficult times, producing incredible results through their work, or making the lab a better place for everyone...
Nominations close 2nd December 2020. T&Cs apply.