“Be bold, be brave and be better next time.” This is the message that Dr Cindy Baulch-Brown offers to her students at Emmanuel College. Cindy models this tenet by her own example, having broken through gender barriers to excel at the highest possible level academically.
A St Ann’s student from the Class of 1990 prior to the amalgamation of St Ann’s and CBC, Cindy was on the Vision and Mission Committee in the preparations for the formation of Emmanuel College. “As a non-Catholic it was nice how included we were always made to feel,” said Cindy.
During Cindy’s time at St Ann’s she enjoyed learning from teachers including Mrs Clapp, Mr Hingston, Mrs Bastow and Mr and Mrs Sproston. Cindy also acknowledges the influence of Mrs O’Donohue who encouraged her to shift her focus from studying humanities to science saying, “We were always encouraged to do more than we set ourselves. We learnt effort is its own reward. I can remember the trauma of having to do a speech every fortnight for Mrs Clapp – but it was a great preparation for my career.”
After finishing her secondary education at St Ann’s, Cindy initially went to the University of Melbourne to Study a Science Degree. Her favourite subjects were Physics and Chemistry. “In my second year at university there were a lot of ‘ologies’ and I tried to do as many of them as possible!” It was at this point that Cindy discovered a passion for the study of Microbiology, focusing on this along with Immunology in her final year and combining this with some work for the Royal Children’s Hospital.
We’re highlighting to students that Science has meaning and it impacts on people’s lives. It’s not just pracs, Bunsen burners and an exam.
Following graduation Cindy began work on her first research project for the hospital looking into human antibodies. She was looking to determine the levels of antibodies people from babies through to the elderly have to particular diseases to open up discussion and review vaccination schedules. Cindy then went on to complete Honours with the Macfarlane Burnett Centre for Medical Research, where she was researching infectious diseases in animals when everyone else was studying humans. “I was using all the same skills as the others, just in a different application.”
Continuing at the Macfarlane Burnett Centre for the next three and a half years as a scholarship student, Cindy worked on her PhD. She then moved to the Alfred Hospital Bone Marrow Transplant Unit working on 3 different research projects, supervising PhD and Honours students. Her main area of research at this time was into Multiple Myeloma. Cindy still holds a patent for a treatment in this area.
Having enjoyed the experience of teaching some practical classes at University and the mounting funding challenges for research at the time, Cindy decided to explore becoming a teacher. Throughout Cindy’s studies and work life she has also been a mother and is now a grandmother.
Cindy went on to complete her teacher training in both Primary and Secondary teaching and was originally leaning towards pursuing teaching primary aged children. However, her first job as a graduate was Emmanuel College, and she hasn’t looked back. “At Emmanuel College I’m working with a dynamic, exciting group of people who genuinely care about student progress. I love learning alongside students and seeing those ‘aha’ moments. I especially love seeing students take risks in today’s environment of social media where we’ve all become even more aware of our self-image. We’re highlighting to students that Science has meaning and it impacts on people’s lives. It’s not just pracs, Bunsen burners and an exam. We really love seeing the students engage with the Science electives and they do. For every area of teaching in every school, making kids see that it has some meaning outside of school. When we get that happening, that’s when the magic happens!”
