New team member - Angela Douglass

1 Jun

Hello! I'm Angela.

I am the newest member joining the NMS team. I work as a Medical Illustrator and Multimedia Designer at NMS' Glasgow branch alongside Annie and Susie. I feel very lucky to be part of such a great studio doing something I love.

The early years

I wasn’t especially talented in the sciences or art at school, although they were my favourite subjects.

I had a great chemistry teacher though. I used to draw little sketches with notes every lesson which would have got me into trouble in any other class. He once told me I should publish my note book at the end of term. I laughed it off quite taken aback at the notion at the time.

I never did publish it, but his kindness and interest stuck with me and kept me sketching in lecture notes and lab books in the years to follow.

I also don’t think I thanked him properly, so if you’re reading this Mr Rodgers, thank you! I’m doodling for a living now!

Grad school & work

I studied Biomedical sciences for my undergraduate then a PhD at the University of Aberdeen. It was a culture shock to say the least. The Scottish school systems early leaving age meant I arrived on the program as a naïve 21-year-old and I spent the whole first year plagued with doubt and wanting to quit.

Things turned around though and I graduated with some great publications and a job offer at a spin-out biotech company, later bought by Pfizer. After a couple years in drug development in the pharmaceutical industry, worked as a postdoc for the University of Aberdeen. Most of my time was spent doing confocal microscopy and live cell imaging which made me realise it was was the visual communication aspect of research that I loved the most. After attending a Learn Medical Art meet up, I enrolled on the MSc Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy program at Glasgow School of Art and perused a career in medical illustration.

My first project

My first project was to develop an accurate 3D model of the SARS-Cov2 virus. I was really nervous as I knew this was going to feature in a well known publication. I had great art direction from Emily and I feel proud of the result!

Now Medical Studios Medical illustration COVID-19 3D Model

My second project

My second project involved creating instructional illustrations that would be included as part of a video to train nurses on how to locate a radial pulse.

Radial pulse medical illustration by Now medical studios

Blood pressure medical illustration by Now Medical Studios

My third project

This one really challenged my figure drawing skills and knowledge of perspective. The client wanted clean simple lines to deliver their message.

Rigor mortis death bed medical illustration by Now Medical Studios

Looking forward

I’m looking forward to watching how my skills progress in such a supportive and collaborative environment. The great thing about working at NMS is, as well as working with a diverse array of client projects, we also have dedicated time for self development and are encouraged to pursue our passion projects.

Angela Douglass

Angela is a medical illustrator and multimedia artist at NMI based at their Glasgow studio. After completing her undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences at GCU, she relocated to Aberdeen to complete her PhD in cell and molecular biology. She then pursued her research career working with small spin-out biotech company Haptogen Ltd, which was subsequently acquired by Wyeth Research and eventually Pfizer. She then took up a role as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Aberdeen.
Microscopy and image analysis has always featured heavily in her research and ignited her passion for medical and scientific visualisation. She took some time out to develop these skills and completed an MSc in Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy at the Glasgow School of Art before joining NMI in 2021.