Alexandra Pais is currently 24 years old, has a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Biochemistry with specialization in Clinical Biochemistry from University of Aveiro. Currently, she’s taking her PhD in Physical Activity and Health at Faculty of Sport of University of Porto.
In this blog post, she came to share a little of her academic path, her research work, as well as her opinion about what is more stimulating and challenging in the life of a scientist.
ALEXANDRA'S TESTIMONY
What was your dream profession as a child?
I always knew that I wanted to study the human body, how it works, why we have diseases/conditions, how they develop and how to prevent, diagnose and/or treat them.
What was your academic background and how important was it for your present/future?
I started by entering in 2013 in the Biochemistry bachelor’s degree at University of Aveiro. Then, I did my master’s in Biochemistry with specialization in Clinical Biochemistry also at University of Aveiro. I think that the development of my master thesis was one of the most important moments, since I really understood the real work of a researcher and the real struggles that we can find in laboratory work. Moreover, it was presented to me one area that I never worked before and that I’m currently passionate about – cancer and related comorbidities; more specifically cancer cachexia (i.e. involuntary muscle loss). After it, I started working as a research fellow also at University of Aveiro. I had the opportunity of study cachexia in different types of cancer, working with different types of biological samples and techniques and also started to work in another muscle loss condition, but this time related with the aging process – sarcopenia. All of this culminated in where I’m right now: taking my PhD (it’s my first year) with the objective of studying these both conditions and the effect of physical exercise on them. Moving to a PhD in a different field (Health and Physical Activity) and in a different University (in part) made me grow and understand an area that I’m no expert on. And that is challenging and super interesting, because you can have a broad field of knowledge.
If you could go back, what would you change in your career and academic life?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. All the good and not so good things that happened to me brought me here. I’m really good right now.
Briefly, what does your research work consist of, and why did you choose this area?
Currently, I’m studying cancer cachexia and age-related sarcopenia individually, and also, they interplay and the putative positive role of physical activity. Like I said before, the passion about these areas started during my master thesis. And, unfortunately, neither one of these life-threatening conditions have an approved treatment. I work with animal models and their biological samples (blood, skeletal muscle, urine…) to try to answer the questions that remain unanswered ‘how these conditions develop?’, ‘how to treat them?’, ‘how to prevent them?’.
In your opinion, what is the most stimulating thing in research VS the biggest challenges / difficulties in research? Did you ever imagine being where you are?
The laboratory work and the quest for answers are the things that make me happy. But this is not a bed of roses…there are moments of struggle, moments when we start thinking "why this happened?", "I was not expecting these results!", "Oh, I’ve so much to do!", "How am I going to finish all of this?" One of my objectives was taking a PhD. But I always thought that I would do it a few years after my master’s. So, I’m really satisfied for working in a field that I love while taking my PhD.
What advice would you give to people who are thinking about going to study Biotechnology (or another area of science), to those who are studying, and to recent graduates?
To be happy with their work. To fight for their objectives. To never be afraid of taking risks. To do their best. To never doubt themselves. And to never give up. These seem those captions for the social media, but they are true. If you respect yourself, and by that I mean, if you respect your life, you’ve to do what it’s in your power to accomplish a full life. This is how I think.
We are grateful to Alexandra Pais for sharing her testimonial.
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