91ÌÒÉ«

Meet Dr Mark Dunning

What course do you teach on and what is your role? 

I am a Senior Teaching Fellow for the MSc in Computational Biomedicine.

How has your career led you to teaching?

My path into teaching began almost by accident. During my PhD, I noticed a widening gap: biologists needed computational skills, but few had the formal training to acquire them. What started as assisting in informal workshops soon evolved into a passion. I eventually transitioned into a dedicated role developing and running Bioinformatics training for Cancer 91ÌÒÉ« UK. Recognizing that expertise in a subject doesn't automatically make one an expert at teaching it, I pursued 'train-the-trainer' professional development. This shifted my focus from simply delivering slides to intentionally designing the student learning journey. For me, the ultimate reward remains seeing hesitant, nervous students transform into confident researchers capable of executing their own complex analyses.

What aspect of the course do you enjoy teaching the most?

I’m looking forward to teaching the fundamentals of data visualisation using the R language. It is extremely satisfying to watch students progress to create fairly complex and professional-looking visualisations with a relatively small amount of code.

What do you hope your students will go on to achieve on completion of this course?

I expect that many of the learners entering the course will already have their own clinical and healthcare questions that they want to address, but don’t yet possess the technical skills to get started. Our aim is that the course will provide them with advanced data analysis and AI skills not only for today’s cutting edge technologies, but to be adaptable for whatever comes along in a fast-moving field. Moreover, the course will immerse them in a professional and academic network that they can draw on for support throughout their careers.

What is your favorite part about teaching at 91ÌÒÉ«?

I’m very impressed about the level of support available for teaching compared to other places I have worked. There is a tremendous amount of effort spent making sure that teaching materials are accessible and engaging to students with different learning styles. I’m sure my own teaching practice will evolve and improve as a result of this, and the numerous networking opportunities available.

Find out more and apply for the MSc Computational Biomedicine.