Hi, I am Alex. I am a Yorkshire lass through and through and before joining VH Bio, I completed a PhD at the University of Leeds. I aimed to develop a cell model of liver cell differentiation, to investigate how hepatitis c virus (HCV) can cause the development of a primary liver cancer called cholangiocarcinoma. Patients previously infected with chronic HCV, even when the virus was eradicated by antiviral drugs, do not revert to baseline risk for cancer development and this is what my research question wanted to address.
My academic career gave me experience in microbiology, cell culture, RNA-sequencing data analysis, CAT3 laboratory work, protein detection methods (immunofluorescence and western blotting) and qPCR which can help me aid other people in molecular biology techniques.
I wanted to move away from academia into a more social role but keep in touch with research. This job allows me to do this and see how it can move into a clinical setting. I enjoyed working as part of a big laboratory group, learning from them and training new students. I think these factors together will aid me in helping others in their work through VH Bio and the Molecular Biology portfolio.
Describe what your job entails.
My job is to discuss the potential VH Bio can have to meet the molecular biology needs of current and potential customers across the UK and Ireland. I can help in identifying key products suited to those customers within the Molecular Biology field and provide a helping hand throughout the whole process.
What is your favourite part of the job?
My favourite part of the job is getting out and about meeting customers. I like finding out how the VH Bio molecular biology portfolio can enhance customer workflows and be a part of their journey to their end goal. I love to hear about my customers outcomes and what that means for their studies and/or patients too! I like being able to help my customers through providing ongoing support throughout, including training and technical support. I am always happy to help and enjoy doing so!
Connect with Alex
Articles by Alex
3rd July 2025
Highlights from the British Society for Microbial Technology Conference In May, I attended the British Society for Microbial Technology (BSMT) Conference in London to explore innovations in sepsis diagnostics, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) monitoring, and metagenomic sequencing. It was amazing to [...]
1st May 2025
Attending the Congress of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) 2025 in Vienna was an incredible opportunity to immerse myself in the latest advancements in clinical microbiology. One key focus was the growing role of metagenomic sequencing (mNGS) [...]
12th February 2025
In today’s fast-paced laboratory environments, speed, accuracy, and efficiency are key. The MagLEAD 12gC Link, the latest iteration from Precision System Science (PSS), takes everything you love about the MagLEAD 12gC, PSS's high-quality, low-cost automated nucleic acid extraction system, and refines it [...]
10th February 2025
For over 50 years, Cedarlane has been producing complement, and is now a worldwide leader in supplying the reagent. Complement products are one of VH Bio’s best-selling Immunology products and it’s not surprising why! In this blog piece, we are going to [...]
6th December 2024
Transform your Sanger Sequencing with QuantumSeq! Discover the trusted favourite that outperforms the competitors and explore two exciting new additions designed to tackle your most challenging sequencing needs with precision and efficiency. QuantumDye Terminator v3.1 Cycle Sequencing Kit – Proven Excellence [...]
4th November 2024
Hi! I’m Alex, a Molecular Biology Technical Sales Specialist at VH Bio. While I might have left academia behind after my PhD, my passion for research never left me. I’m lucky enough to stay close to the scientific world, especially in immunology, [...]
27th February 2024
Clinical diagnosis of microbial diseases has long been based on blood cultures and PCR, but can the sensitivity, time to result and the outcome be improved? From uncovering more of the microbiome composition of multiple environments to clinical diagnostics, next-generation sequencing (NGS) [...]
12th August 2022
Alexandria Kilvington recently joined VH Bio as a Molecular Biology Technical Sales Specialist. Find out about her role, background and some of her interests! Bio: I graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a 1st Class honours degree in Human Biology which included [...]
