PhD in 180 seconds

• Can you summarise your research in three minutes? It seems impossible, but yet it can be done.
• Safoura Reza's doctorate could perhaps help to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

'My PhD in 180 seconds'

The contest organised by the French Institute in Poland called 'My doctorate in 180 seconds' was held  for the fourth time this year for students from Central Europe. The participants had a maximum of three minutes to present their doctorate in French – online – to the jury and the audience. UPWr Doctoral School student Safoura Reza received an honourable mention.

– I found out from the jury that they had created an award category especially for me! Apparently, they had considered awarding me third place, which was eventually given to another participant, but they liked my presentation so much that they decided to give me an honourable mention – says Safoura, explaining the concept behind the competition, which is that each participant has three minutes to present their doctoral thesis. In addition to the research itself, presentation is also important for the jury, and the topic has to be understood by everyone. – I wasn't sure if I could do it in 180 seconds, but I managed. And it was harder than it seems – laughs the doctoral student.

In search of a potential chemotherapy improving therapy

'Galactosylceramide as a regulator of apoptotic gene expression and modulator of drug resistance in breast cancer cells' – is the topic of Safoura Reza's doctoral thesis, the supervisor of which is Prof. Maciej Ugorski, with Dr. Jarosław Suchański as the auxiliary supervisor. It involves studying the effects of galactosylceramide glycolipids on breast cancer, which is the most common malignancy among women. It accounts for around 23% of all cases in Poland and is responsible for around 14% of deaths from malignant cancers in women. 

Previously, a team of scientists from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology had succeeded in demonstrating that large amounts of galactosylceramide glycolipid in breast cancer cells cause the cells to become more resistant to drugs, such as doxorubicin. This information provides us with the knowledge that conducting further research in this direction will perhaps result in more effective chemotherapy in the future. – At this point we do not know why this occurs. Galactosylceramide is a tiny compound, made up of sugar and lipids, and it is not known why it has such a big effect on protecting cancer cells from dying. In my PhS I’m looking for the answer to that question. I need to demonstrate why this compound has this effect. When we have this knowledge, in the future we may be able to introduce an inhibitor to enhance cancer treatment. But we still have a long way to go to implement any therapy based on the results of our research – explains Safoura. 

The PhD student says that during the contest she focused on explaining how important it is to study lipids, because scientists tend to devote their research to proteins. – The problem is that proteins are important enough for cells that when we target them, both cancer cells and healthy cells die. By targeting lipids, we do not kill the cell, but rather make it drug-sensitive again. If we succeed, it would work as an additional therapy to chemotherapy – says Safoura. 

– I was very happy when the UPWr Doctoral School contacted me about this contest. After completing my PhD, I plan to go to France or Switzerland for a postdoc, and this competition has given me the opportunity to establish myself internationally – adds the doctoral student. 

is