"I taught George at undergraduate and now at postgraduate level as my new PhD student at the University of Huddersfield. George experienced at first hand what impact cancer can have on patients and their loved ones when a close family member was diagnosed with a brain tumour at age 12. These tumours are some of the most difficult to treat cancers, with additional complications such as personality changes in the patients, which is a further upset in addition to the original diagnosis for the carers and patients' relatives. Since then George has been passionate about science and become committed about making a difference in patients' lives by firstly completing his undergraduate studies as a biomedical scientist and now starting his PhD in brain tumour research under my supervision. To do so, as he is self funding, he works as a cleaner in the mornings before his lab work. Despite this, his upbeat nature and desire to find better treatments for brain tumour patients is highly appreciated by us in the laboratory and at the same time incredibly motivational. Having only just started his PhD journey in October, he has already established institutional links with other scientists to support his research into targeting high grade brain tumours and is already making his mark by being part of a scientific paper. He also supports next generation scientists by giving talks to our undergraduate students to share his experiences and give insight into his work and acts as ambassador for academic and scientific organisations. Being easy going and very approachable, he has been able to support undergraduate students in academia and career-related matters. From my point of a view, being able to support George in his transition from student to independent researcher is highly rewarding. I very much believe that George is a worthy recipient of the Lab Heroes Awards. Not all heroes wear capes but lab coats!"

Nominated by Anke Bruning-Richardson, Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom