MENTEE – Farima Moghaddaskho

Farima is a Ph.D. student from The University of Melbourne and doing her Ph.D. studies in Walter and Eliza Institute of Medical Research (WEHI). Her Ph.D. project focuses on optimising BH3 mimetic therapy for patients with haematological cancers. BH3 mimetics, a novel class of targeted anti-cancer agents, have been developed to specifically target the pro‑survival protein BCL2 or its relatives like MCL1. The goal of her project is to understand how BH3 mimetic therapy might fail and to undertake laboratory studies that guide the development of novel approaches to maximize the efficacy of BH3 mimetics.

Farima did her master in the field of Human Genetics at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Her master’s research project was about alterations in DNA methylation patterns of cell cycle regulatory genes in human breast cancer cells. In doing so, she has become familiar with the analysis of methylation status and cell cycle distribution.

She has also acquired some more research experience while she was working as a research assistant at Haematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Research Centre of Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran, where she worked on multiple projects including blockade of VEGR signalling in human glioblastoma and ovarian cancer, which was a uniquely valuable experience.

Attending classes on drug development and commercialisation during her master’s degree and seeing numerous patients in Shariati Hospital actuated her orientation to enter industry after completing her Ph.D. studies, which is closer to reality. After an exhaustive search, she was undoubtedly ensured that her research interests are aligned with working at a biotechnology or pharmaceutical company, but she felt that she needed to gain new insights into it. These initial sparks steered her to apply for IMNIS mentorship program, which gives her the opportunity being exposed to improving my knowledge for her future work.