EATRIS Next Gen Scientist Award to Anuja Lipsa

• NORLUX Neuro-Oncology Laboratory

Congratulations to Dr Anuja Lipsa, Postdoctoral Fellow in the NORLUX Neuro-Oncology Laboratory of the Department of Cancer Research, on being awarded the first EATRIS Next Gen Scientist Award during the EATRIS 10 Year Anniversary conference (EATRIS@10) in The Hague on November 21^st!

Introduced this year for the first time to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the European Advanced Translational Research Infrastructure in Medicine (EATRIS), the award aims to showcase the work of early-stage translational researchers from an EATRIS institute through captivating media such as a short video, image, poem, game, or any other imaginative and engaging format that effectively communicates the research and dedication to advancing translational medicine.

Dr Lipsa’s submission consisted in a short video illustrating the work carried out at NORLUX to advance glioblastoma treatment though the development of patient-derived xenograft models (PDOX), i.e. patient avatars. Specifically, Anuja is working on performing a large-scale pre-clinical drug screen using tumour cells isolated from the PDOX models against a library of thousands of compounds, in order to identify  candidate drugs and profile differential drug response  for specific patient sub-groups. This study may set the foundation for the development of early phase personalized treatment strategies. Her submission was chosen by the EATRIS committee owing to its strong translational contents and clear and engaging presentation.

“I am always looking out for unconventional disruptive technologies and approaches which can help accelerate drug discovery. Thanks to the EATRIS staff exchange programme funding, I was able to collaborate with the University of Zaragoza in Spain and learn their advanced organ-on-chip technology, which significantly helps reduce the time needed to evaluate drug response”, explains Dr Lipsa.

I would like to thank the EATRIS committee for selecting my research for the award, and express my gratitude to Dr Golebiewska , our group leader, for her excellent guidance and the entire NORLUX team for their constant support.

she concludes.

The EATRIS Next Gen Scientist Award also offers Dr Lipsa the complimentary enrolment at the Translational Medicine Explained (TMex) 2024 course in Barcelona.

Watch Anuja’s video here!