Becky Gilley (nee Ley) also comes from ‘south of the river’ but did her degree in Molecular Biology amongst the dark satanic mills at the University of Manchester. From there she moved back ‘darn sarf’ to Reading and did a PhD in Molecular Virology. She did her first post-doc at the Institute of Child Health, Great Ormond Street working on chromosome translocations, leukaemogenesis and T cell biology. She has worked in Simon’s group since 2002 making important contributions to understanding the role of ERK1/2 and ERK5 pathways in regulating gene expression, cell proliferation and cell survival. In addition, she provides core support in retroviral and letiviral expression systems and serves on the Institute Biological Safety Committee. Her favourite colour is Pink.