Award to support immune molecule study
A Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute PhD candidate says winning a Graduate Women Victoria (GWV) bursary will significantly assist her in finishing her doctoral work investigating a molecule that plays a key role in immune response.
Ee Shan Pang, from Associate Professor Meredith O’Keeffe’s lab, has won the WISENet Donor Bursary, worth $4000.
“I’m very close to finishing my PhD and plan to submit my thesis in September,” Ee Shan said.
“The bursary will greatly help me get to that finishing line,” she said.
Ee Shan was awarded the bursary at a ceremony attended by other award recipients, GWV members and representatives from various universities held at the University of Melbourne Burnley campus on Saturday 15 June. GWV offers an annual program of scholarships and bursaries to female students enrolled in Victorian universities.
“It’s always nice to be encouraged by a funding body,” Ee Shan said.
“To be given the award among other women doing really good things at various stages of their graduate education and from all disciplines was humbling,” she said.
Ee Shan delivered a short speech to the audience about her graduate educational career to date, and her current research.
“I’m looking at a molecule called interferon-lambda that is known to play a role in antiviral immunity as well as auto-immune diseases such as lupus and psoriasis,” she said.
“I found in my PhD that it plays a very important role in normal immune function to be able to fight off viruses.
“We need this molecule to be able to properly initiate an immune response.”
Ee Shan said she has had invaluable support in her studies, especially from her PhD supervisor, Associate Professor Meredith O’Keeffe.
“I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by a lot of strong scientific female role models such as my supervisor, as well as being lucky enough to be mentored by Dr Amanda Caples as part of Industry Mentoring Network in STEM – I’d like to thank both of them, but especially Meredith,” she said.
In the short term, Ee Shan would like to continue her research in post-graduate work with Associate Professor O’Keeffe and in the future possibly conduct more post-graduate work in Europe.
The WISENet Donor Bursary encourages female students who have overcome adversity in areas of their lives and supports women researching STEMM (science, engineering, technology, mathematics, medicine) to continue their education. The organisation works with the Australian Federation of Graduate Women and is part of Graduate Women International.
About the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
Committed to making the discoveries that will relieve the future burden of disease, the newly established Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University brings together more than 120 internationally-renowned research teams. Our researchers are supported by world-class technology and infrastructure, and partner with industry, clinicians and researchers internationally to enhance lives through discovery.