University of Bristol: Student’s incredible journey to find cure for dad’s terminal disease

Tim Roberts had enjoyed a privileged lifestyle in Melbourne, Australia, when his father’s congestive heart disease forced them to travel 9,000 miles for a rare and expensive treatment.

The family wound up in Cardiff, where Tim worked two jobs and studied hard to get a place at the University of Bristol so he could study heart disease.

Now he has secured a PhD in Australia, where he will continue his search for a cure.

Melbourne

Tim Roberts grew up on 42 acres of land outside Melbourne, where his father, Ken, had emigrated from Northern Ireland and become a successful business owner.

“We had a close relationship and me and my brother learnt a lot from him. He was interested in everything and taught us about engines, irrigation, all sorts,” said Tim, who is now 26.

“Dad had a couple of heart attacks when I was 10 or 11, so since I was young most my memories of my father are him being ill.

“That’s what precipitated my interest in medicine and the biomedical field as a whole.”

Houston

In 2009 the family moved to Houston, Texas, for a rare form of heart treatment not available elsewhere.

Tim said: “I was very much aware of the fact that he was really ill. I said goodbye to him many times.”

Without health insurance the treatment cost the family all of their savings.

“We did have that privilege, but we lost pretty much everything,” Tim said.

“But I’m not salty about it. I wouldn’t go back to having all of that money – I figure I needed everything that happened to get to this place now.

“If you offered me this life again, even with everything that happened, I’d take it in a heartbeat. The adversity that we’ve all been through as a family has made me who I am.”



Tim with father Ken in 2014 before starting at the University of Bristol.‌
Cardiff

In 2013 the family moved to Cardiff. The timing of their intercontinental moves meant Tim, now 17, had no qualifications. Despite this, he worked hard and aced his A-Levels while working two jobs, eventually earning a place on the University of Bristol’s Pharmacology BSc.

His goal remained that of his 11-year-old self: finding a cure for his father’s disease.

Tim said: “I didn’t take any money from my parents, they simply didn’t have any support to give me.

“I remember waking up on results day, seeing I’d been accepted to Bristol and running downstairs. I was so, so excited, I was literally yelling at my sleeping parents.”

Bristol

Although he “absolutely loved” studying at Bristol, his father’s disease continued to loom large.

The Pharmacology undergraduate and subsequent master’s (on drugs used to treat heart attacks, also at Bristol) were a “deep dive into my father’s illness”, Tim said.

“Studying pharmacology all came from wanting to understand my dad’s disease. If my dad wasn’t sick, then I’d probably be working in finance,” he said.

It also triggered his phobia of needles and blood. He decided to tackle that phobia after his master’s by becoming a lab technician in the University of Bristol’s renal department.

As his dad’s kidney’s deteriorated from the heart disease, Tim spent his days cutting up kidneys from people who had recently died of similar diseases.

He said: “I knew things were really going to change. I did years of therapy with the University’s mental health services in preparation.

“I remember being in my professor’s office one day just breaking down and explaining the whole situation to him.

“Two days before my final stats exam of my undergrad, my dad called me and said he didn’t have much time left. That really hit me. I’d been preparing for 10 years and I thought I was ready but it was still a huge shock.”

Sadly, Ken passed away in April 2021 and wasn’t able to see Tim graduate from his master’s. In his final years Ken studied for an undergraduate and a master’s in law, and had even signed up for a PhD in Australia.

“He was very immobile but his brain was always sharp,” Tim said.


Despite working evening and weekends, Tim managed to achieve top grades at Bristol. His work has won awards and his master’s research is due to be published by a journal.

Stuart Mundell, Professor in Cellular Pharmacology at the University of Bristol said: “Tim was a hardworking and diligent scientist during his time in my laboratory.

“He showed incredible personal resilience to self-fund and complete his MSc by Research studies into drugs used to treat patients suffering a heart attack.

“It is great to now see him continue on his journey investigating cardiovascular disease.”

This week, Tim started a PhD at Monash University, a world leader in pharmacology and heart failure, just down the road from the hospital he was born in.

He plans to continue researching, either in academia or private industry, to find a cure. He knows that in later life the same heart disease may also affect him and his brother.

“My father instilled in me my work ethic, persistence and resilience,” he said.

“I’ve worked so hard to get here. I thought about giving up many times to help care for dad, but knowing that I was doing this for him helped me through.”