top of page

Lily May Toomey
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
VITALTRACE
Perth, Australia
Graduate Research Scientist
May 2021 - September 2021
Intern / PhD Researcher
March 2021 - April 2021
PERRON INSTITUTE FOR NEUROLOGICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE
Student Seminar Committee Member
January 2019 - December 2020
Perth, Australia
MASSIVE SCIENCE
Virtual
Freelance Science Writer
2018 - 2019
PERTH SCIENCE FESTIVAL (SCITECH)
Perth, Australia
Youth Committee Intern
2018
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Perth, Australia
University Undergraduate Tutor
2018
-
Compiled research findings to date in a journal article format for internal and external company communications
-
Synthesised current literature and collaborated with prominent researchers and clinicians to establish a foundational framework for a potential review article
-
Assisted in writing an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Ideas Grant application
-
Consulted with data scientists on necessary changes to experimental procedures to ensure high quality data outputs
-
Awarded an iPREP Biodesign Placement Scholarship ($4,000 AUD for the initial 7 week internship)
-
Collaborated with three fellow postgraduate students to organise monthly cross-institutional seminars, whose goal was to promote and facilitate the sharing of research being conducted at the Ralph and Patricia Sarich Neuroscience Research Institute
-
Authored a full-length article that was published online and generated ~30,000 unique pageviews over 2 years
-
Wrote two short articles and contributed scientific peer commentary on a further two articles
-
Spearheaded and developed the three potential story ideas through the entire publication pipeline, from conceptualising the original pitch through to finalising the end product
-
Liaised with over forty partner organisations and event stallholders, developed comprehensive social media campaign plans for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and formulated digital marketing materials, including pre-planned and live social media content
-
Launched the Perth Science Festival Twitter account to create a new forum for the festival to connect with other science organisations, professionals and educators
-
Explored analytics and modified content accordingly to optimise performance with target audiences
-
Packaged the performance data of created content for review from the Event Coordinator
-
Taught a first year undergraduate science communications unit (SCOM1101: Communicating Science) and a third year undergraduate neuroscience unit (NEUR3302: Advanced Neuroscience 2)
-
Duties encompassed preparing for and teaching tutorial classes, individual student consultations as required, regular meetings with unit coordinators to ensure consistency amongst tutors, and marking of student assessments
EDUCATION
CURTIN UNIVERSITY
Perth, Australia
Master of Philosophy in Biomedical Sciences (MPhil)
2018 - 2022
Thesis Title: An exploration into common mechanisms of damage between models of demyelinating
disease and neurotrauma
-
Authored or co-authored five articles for international peer reviewed journals
-
Presented research findings at eight domestic and international conferences, including once as an invited speaker
-
Won 1st Prize People's Choice Award (Scientific Talk) at the Perron Institute Symposium in 2020
-
Awarded the highly competitive MS Research Australia Postgraduate Scholarship ($105,000 AUD) and Perron Institute Byron Kakulas Prestige Scholarship ($17,500 AUD)
-
Conceived, developed and organised multiple preclinical research projects in parallel to conform to various grant obligations for my research group
-
Thought critically and made independent decisions to quickly adapt research plans and create alternative ways of approaching data acquisition and analysis
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Perth, Australia
Bachelor of Science
1st Class Honours in Neuroscience (BSc. Hons)
2017
Thesis Title: Comparison of local and systemic administration of three ion channel inhibitors for
limiting secondary degeneration following neurotrauma
-
Awarded the Geoffrey Blee Prize for the highest mark in the neuroscience honours cohort in 2017
-
Authored three articles in international peer-reviewed journals
-
Developed and established excellent time management and organisational skills to produce key research outputs for the project
-
Collaborated within a team of twelve research scientists to creatively solve problems by exchanging critical and conducive feedback
-
Secured two independent sources of travel funding for a national neuroscience conference to present my research, an Australasian Neuroscience Society Student Travel Award ($375 AUD) and a competitive Neurotrauma Research Program Student Travel Scholarship ($500 AUD)
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Perth, Australia
Bachelor of Science
in Neuroscience (BSc.)
2014 - 2016
-
Refined ability to grasp scientific concepts swiftly and comprehensively to meet course demands and assessment deadlines
-
Cross disciplinary units were undertaken in European Studies, History, Philosophy and Integrated Human Studies to enhance written communication skills and my broader world knowledge
AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
iPREP BIODESIGN PLACEMENT SCHOLARSHIP
March 2021
$4,000 AUD for the initial 7 week VitalTrace internship
MS RESEARCH AUSTRALIA POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
2019 - 2022
A living allowance stipend to the value of $105,000 AUD for 3.5 years of a postgraduate degree
GEOFFREY BLEE NEUROSCIENCE PRIZE
2018
A $500 AUD prize awarded to the student in the neuroscience honours cohort with the highest course weighted average mark
NEUROTRAUMA RESEARCH PROGRAM STUDENT TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP
2017
A $500 bursary to assist with the costs of attending the annual ANS meeting to present my first author poster relating to my work investigating neurotrauma
1ST PRIZE PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD (SCIENTIFIC TALK)
December 2020
Won for the talk Powdered vs Pelleted: The Ultimate Cuprizone Showdown at the 2020 Perron Institute Symposium
PERRON INSTITUTE BYRON KAKULAS PRESTIGE SCHOLARSHIP
2018 - 2021
A top-up living allowance scholarship to the value of $17,500 AUD for 3.5 years of a postgraduate degree, with an additional $2,500 AUD towards conference and other research-related travel costs
AUSTRALASIAN NEUROSCIENCE SOCIETY STUDENT TRAVEL AWARD
2017
A $375 AUD travel award as a student attending the annual ANS conference who is presenting work as the first author
bottom of page