When did you leave Chesterton Community College?

I left in 1996.

What is your current job title or field?

Professor of Disease Ecology at the University of Cambridge

Did you know as a teenager which career you wanted to pursue, or did you realise this later on?

I had not a clue at the time!

How did you start your career?

After university I initially took a year travelling and teaching English in Russia before starting a job in investment banking in London. After a few years I decided to get a PhD in the US, focusing on using mathematics to understand the spread of infectious diseases.

What do you like about your job? What are the high points?

The privilege of being able to ask (and hopefully answer) and study interesting and important questions. It’s a really nice, friendly and international community of people trying to improve the world.

What is the first piece of advice you would give to a student wanting to pursue this career?

I think there is not enough focus on what is important to people in their careers. There’s a great concept in Japan of Ikigai which perfectly captures what was important for me – see this diagram.