A curiosity for science leads to doctorate in biochemistry and molecular genetics

After studying for eight years, Mr Bell said it was "fulfilling" to have accomplished a long term goal and to be considered a fully qualified scientist.

"I remember in the early years of high school I started thinking about a career in science, but was quite intimidated by all of the 'scientist' jobs I found on Seek requiring a Doctorate," he said.

"I wasn't sure if that was something I could achieve back then, but through determined perseverance, I made it."

In 2015, Mr Bell began a Bachelor of Science (advanced) before undertaking an honours research project.

Four years later he began his doctorate and on December 5, 2023, he graduated.

"I think throughout my school years I saw a lot of opportunity in the field of biology to follow your curiosity and discover interesting and important new things," he said

One example Mr Bell gave was the Human Genome Project, which aimed to discover the sequence of the entire human genome.

It was completed in 2003 and identified about 20,000 coding genes, yet the actual function of many of these genes are still waiting to be discovered.

"I was also fascinated by the concept of gene editing, with the groundbreaking potential of the gene editing technology known as CRISPR being discovered in my final years of school," he said.

"I was very excited by the potential of this technology to cure diseases that millions of people suffer from simply because they were unlucky in the genetic lottery."

During his PhD, Mr Bell got to use this technology to explore ways in which they could cure a debilitating blood disease known as sickle cell disease.

"Research from my field has recently led to the first approved gene therapy for this disease, so it's a really exciting time to be studying biology," he said.

Attaining his Doctorate is just the first step in his scientific career, Mr Bell says.

With the increasing specialisation of science, Mr Bell now needs to decide what he wants to focus on in the long term.

But Mr Bell does have a plan.

"I'm hoping to take up a postdoctoral research position overseas, and experience how science is approached in a different culture for a few years," he said.

After that, his plan is to return to Australia and see if he can establish himself as an academic researcher in the university system, or see what other opportunities are available in Australia's biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry.

Despite now living in Sydney, Mr Bell hopes his career will allow him to come back to the country one day.

Growing up on his parents farm just south of Geurie, he spent a lot of his primary school years in Dubbo - attending both Dubbo South and Dubbo West public schools.

"I would like to thank all my teachers at Dubbo South and Mrs Bolton from Dubbo West, who encouraged and persisted with me even though I was resistant to doing my homework at the time," he said.

"They all did a great job."

Mr Bell wanted to encourage other young kids to pursue a career in science.

"Don't be put off if you don't think you're smart enough or have the credentials, the key ingredients are curiosity and motivation to persist when it gets tough," he said.

"As with many careers these days, I recommend familiarising yourself with a bit of coding as this is becoming a more and more important skill in biology, and even if you decide science isn't for you it will be a useful skill to have wherever you end up."