Charlotte Roughton

Me in my old lab where I did my research Masters. The photo is taken from the waist up, I am wearing goggles and a pale blue lab coat, and I am smiling.

Me in my current lab where I am doing my PhD. The photo is a full-body shot of me enthusiastically posing with two Duran bottles. I am wearing a white lab coat and a pale blue mask.

A selfie I took in my old research Masters lab. It is taken from the chest up, I am wearing goggles and a pale blue lab coat, and I am smiling.

Me holding a large stack of embroidery hoops. In my spare time, I enjoy cross stitching and embroidery. I run a small online business selling cross stitch patterns and completed hoops on Etsy called Stitching Science.

Me squatting down on one knee and posing with two shih tzus. They are the family dogs Charlie and Bertie - Bertie is black and Charlie is dark grey and white. I am wearing a dark green hoodie and navy tracksuit bottoms.

Me squatting down and hand-feeding a goose with my back facing the camera. I am wearing a denim jacket and a black and white floral dress. This photo was taken at the Washington Wetland Centre, one of my favourite places to go and photograph wildlife.

“Hi there, I’m Charlotte. I live in Newcastle upon Tyne and I’m currently a Microbiology PhD student at Newcastle University.

I’m obsessed with microbes, especially bacteria, with my research interests lying within virulence – what mechanisms underpin it, and how these can be exploited to find novel treatments (especially important now with the concerning rise of antibiotic resistance). I’m currently working on the bacterium Clostridioides difficile, an antibiotic resistant superbug and the most common cause of hospital-acquired infections in Europe. Its ability to form dormant spores that are resistant to heat, radiation, and common disinfectants makes it extremely difficult to remove from the environment and is the main method by which it both infects new patients and re-infects current ones. Despite this, sporulation remains poorly understood and unexploited as a therapeutic target, with my project aiming to further unravel the molecular mechanisms underpinning this process.

I’m also autistic. I was diagnosed when I was two, for which I’m so grateful as so many autistic women fall under the radar and remain undiagnosed until adulthood. It provided an explanation for why I felt so different and struggled socially. However, growing up was difficult. While my family life was great and I always felt loved and accepted, the same could not be said for my social life. I was incredibly socially naïve, which in turn made me vulnerable to manipulation and malicious behaviour. Most of my childhood friendships were abusive. I never fit in or felt accepted by my peers. I felt ashamed, like I’d failed at being a “normal” human being, and as result hid the bullying from my family and developed a deep-rooted resentment towards myself and my diagnosis. This continued all the way into my undergraduate years, with me developing an unhealthy reliance on alcohol to try and maintain a false extroverted persona I thought I needed to be accepted, disordered eating, and eventually a diagnosis of depression and anxiety. Somehow, I graduated with a 2:1.

It wasn’t until I started my research Masters that I finally started to genuinely accept myself and become more at peace with being autistic. I ended the toxic relationship that I was in, stopped trying to maintain a completely unsustainable persona, and met some truly wonderful friends I felt completely at ease being my authentic self with. I now feel comfortable and safe openly disclosing being autistic. It still comes with its difficulties – I’m still working through my self-esteem issues, and my mental health needs continuous care and management to help prevent relapse. However, overall, I think being autistic is an asset – it has shaped who I am as a person, and makes me a better scientist.“

Instagram: @stitchingscience

Twitter: @cgroughton