Will Gilks

Will Gilks has extensive work experience in the fields of data analysis, software development, and research.

In 2006, they started their career at Trinity College Dublin as a PhD student and research technician. Will successfully obtained a grant to study the role of neuronal glutamatergic transmission genes in schizophrenia risk. Their research findings were published in international, peer-reviewed journals, and they received the award for the best student presentation from the Irish Society of Human Genetics.

After completing their PhD, Will joined the University of Sussex as a research fellow. There, they proposed and analyzed a whole-genome sequencing project on fruit flies. Will developed Linux pipelines to process large volumes of genome sequencing data and published the results in a leading open-access journal. Will also made the data and code available for further research.

Following their time at the University of Sussex, they worked as a senior data analyst at the Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network. Will was part of a public healthcare data analysis team and contributed to evaluations, built Tableau dashboards, wrote grant applications and promotional material, and provided tutoring on R and statistics to colleagues.

In 2019, Will joined the Sussex Community Development Association (SCDA) as a database manager assistant. Will transferred participant records to a secure business database, which served as a vital resource for front-line workers and program evaluation. Will identified and resolved systematic errors in the upload process.

In 2020, they joined BT as a senior software engineer. Will was part of the Shadow IT Team and worked in an agile environment. Will developed web-based R Shiny apps from scratch, supporting national improvement telecommunications engineering programs. One notable app they built was Cable Jar, a shortest-route finder and national database of ethernet cable routes. Will automated monthly data refresh for the app.

In 2021, they worked as an R Shiny developer and data analyst for an unspecified organization. Will later joined Airfinity Ltd as an R Shiny developer.

Throughout their work experience, Will has demonstrated expertise in data analysis, software development, and research. Will has a remarkable record of published research findings, grant-winning accomplishments, and contributions to data analysis projects.

Will Gilks received their Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Zoology/Animal Biology from the University of Aberdeen between 1995 and 1998. Will then pursued a Master of Science (MSc) degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U. of London, from 1999 to 2000. Will went on to complete their education by obtaining a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Human Molecular Genetics from Trinity College Dublin, which they pursued between 2005 and 2010.