Dr Aida Farshadi

I'm Aida Farshadi, a researcher specialising in pancreatic cancer. I come from Tehran, the capital of Iran, and have spent the past ten years studying the biology of different cancers. My ultimate aim is to make a meaningful contribution to cancer research and improve patients' life expectancy.

I moved to the Netherlands in 2010 after receiving a VU Fellowship Programme scholarship to study for a master's degree in Molecular Life Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. My interest in oncology began during a first-year placement at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI). I was fascinated by the complex interaction between cancer cells and healthy cells, and by the way cancer can take control of the human body.

After completing my master's degree in 2012, I began doctoral research in the Department of Molecular Genetics at Erasmus MC. I studied how the cell cycle and biological clock are regulated in cancer cells compared with healthy cells. I have always sought to connect fundamental science with clinical practice, because meaningful progress depends on close collaboration between laboratory and clinical researchers.

On the day I defended my thesis, pancreatic surgeon Professor Casper van Eijck offered me a position in his newly established laboratory, where I could combine fundamental and clinical research. It was a great honour to apply my knowledge to pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest diseases. I gladly accepted and have worked as a researcher in Casper's team since October 2018.

I began by developing a unique three-dimensional organoid model using treatment-resistant pancreatic cancer cells from patients. For the first time, this model allows us to investigate before clinical trials why some cells do not respond to therapy. Overcoming that resistance is one of the most important challenges in developing more effective treatments. If I can help move pancreatic cancer research one significant step forward, I will have achieved my goal.