Grant success
Fantastic news for Jacobs Alumna Amanda Valeta: The 24-year-old from Zimbabwe, who graduated from Jacobs University with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Cell Biology (BCCB) in 2009, will receive the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) International Student Research Fellowship.
July 29, 2011The HHMI's three-year fellowship is endowed with an annual stipend of $30,000 and supports outstanding international pre-doctoral students studying in the United States. To be chosen Amanda had to participate in a highly competitive application process with thousands of international students entering each year.
Amanda, who is currently studying as a graduate at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, is one of only 47 students selected by the HHMI for their exceptional academic and personal achievements. With her fellowship starting from the beginning of September, she will receive support in years three, four, and five of her PhD.
“We are delighted about Amanda’s success in receiving this fellowship. She was already an exceptional student during her time at Jacobs and contributed significantly to a research project on thyroid cancer. She deserves the best support in her future career in life sciences,” Klaudia Brix, Professor of Cell Biology and one of Amanda’s mentors at Jacobs University, comments on her former student’s success.
Dr. Joel Oppenheim, Senior Associate Dean for Biomedical Sciences at the NYU School of Medicine also congratulated Amanda on her achievements: “Winning the HHMI International Student Research Fellowship is an amazing honor for an incredible young woman that both our institutions can be proud of.”
Breast cancer research as PhD topic
Amanda Valeta, who started her career as an undergraduate student at Jacobs University in 2006, has chosen breast cancer research as her PhD topic. “I am studying the molecular mechanisms underlying an aggressive form of breast cancer known as Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) which is a distinct form of Stage IIIC breast cancer,” explains Amanda.
“Because IBC is very aggressive - 30% of cases present as metastatic disease - it is responsible for up to 15-20% of annual breast cancer mortality. There has been little concerted research and essentially no therapeutic drug discovery efforts to develop life-saving strategies for IBC. It is therefore essential and the goal of my proposed PhD work to study the molecular mechanisms necessary for IBC initiation and rapid progression to metastasis, the major reason for unprecedented mortality in breast cancer.”
Amanda’s research project is also clinically relevant to her home country of Zimbabwe, which was another reason for her choice. “Inflammatory and hormone receptor negative breast cancer are the most lethal forms of the disease and occur much more frequently in African women," she says. "My long term goal is to give something back to my country. The treatment offered to cancer patients in Zimbabwe is dismal. It is my hope to one day change this scenario by performing life-saving research in breast cancer that translates to the clinic, and ultimately by helping to develop a breast cancer research and treatment center in Zimbabwe.”
Close ties between Jacobs and New York University
Since 2005, Jacobs University and the NYU School of Medicine have been cooperating in enabling in particular BCCB students to continue their academic path at the NYU School of Medicine. So far eight Jacobs students have pursued their further career at this prestigious research institution, thereby setting an example of the exceptional acceptance of the high quality undergraduate education at Jacobs University.
The close ties between both universities were formalized in 2009 with an official agreement signed by Jacobs University President Joachim Treusch and Dr. Joel Oppenheim of NYU.
For more information please visit www.jacobs-university/nyu
Photo: Steve Romero
