09/05/2024
Meet Wolfson's newest Fellows
An interview with Francesca Melle
Francesca Melle is a 3rd year PhD student in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. She was recently awarded a Wolfson Travel Grant to attend the Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting 2022 in Montreal, Canada, where she presented her research on designing a more efficient and less toxic therapy for hard-to-treat cancers, such as pancreatic cancer.
What is the subject of your PhD?
My PhD project focuses on the development and use of a new class of nanomaterial called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for the encapsulation and controlled release of chemotherapeutic drugs. The main aim of my project is to design a more efficient and less toxic therapy for hard-to-treat cancers.
Tell us about yourself
I am Italian. I received my Master's degree in Nanobiotechnology at the University of Salento (Lecce, Italy) in 2018. After my degree, I won an Erasmus+ scholarship and moved to Cambridge to work for three months in the Bioelectronics Laboratory under the guidance of Prof. George Malliaras. Subsequently, I moved to Saudi Arabia, where I spent 10 months working in the laboratory of Nanomedicine at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). I then came back to Cambridge to pursue my PhD. I am currently a 3rd year PhD student in the Adsorption and Advanced Materials laboratory in the Department of Chemical Engineering.
How did you decide on the subject of your PhD?
I grew up in a small town in the south of Italy, close to Taranto in Apulia, which is sadly known to be one of the most polluted cities in Europe with the highest mortality rate for some specific cancer types. Since the beginning of my university studies, and even before that when I was in high school, I've been fascinated by the incredible potential of biotechnology and the impact that this very interdisciplinary subject could have on the future of human health. I learned that biotechnology is a very broad and cross-disciplinary field, and so, decided to gain experience in its engineering and chemistry aspects via various research projects. These experiences, combined with my background in biology, gave me the right tools to pursue a PhD. Despite all these different and exciting opportunities, though, I never lost track of what my original goal was: working on the development of innovative treatments for cancer. When I heard about an opportunity to work on an innovative drug delivery project with Prof. Fairen-Jimenez's group at the University of Cambridge, I knew it was one I could not miss!
What was your experience of the Controlled Release Society conference?
Thanks to the support of the Wolfson College Travel grant last July, I had the opportunity to participate in the Controlled Release Society Annual meeting in Montreal, Canada. It was the first time that I had the chance to participate in a conference of this kind, with more than 1000 attendees coming from all over the world to discuss the latest advances in the drug release field. At the conference, I discussed my research with experts in the field, gaining many new ideas and feedback. I also had the chance to learn what other brilliant scientists are studying in other universities and develop an international professional network.
What is your broader ambition within the biotech field?
My near future plan is to pursue a career in the biotech/pharma world, working in an inspiring and cutting-edge environment for the development of new therapies that could, one day, have a big impact on the life of the thousands of people who are directly or indirectly affected by cancer.
What have been some of the highlights of your professional career at Cambridge/ Wolfson?
Having the chance to work on an interesting and challenging PhD project is an incredible experience, but doing this at Cambridge is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. My past three years at Cambridge have been the most richly rewarding years of my life. The dynamic and intense Cambridge environment awakened my hunger for knowledge as well as my desire to connect with people, giving me the opportunity to build lifelong friendships and professional collaborations. The most pleasantly surprising aspect of my experience has been the fact that everyone from the youngest students to the honorary professors are open to dialogue, and even being challenged, which all leads to inspired science.
What is your opinion on the future of biotechnology/ healthcare?
Biotechnology has enormous potential in today's world. It has an impact on nearly every aspect of our lives, from food to healthcare to chemical industries and environmental preservation. Biotechnology-derived products help to improve our lives and the health of our planet. In recent years, a more multidisciplinary approach, particularly with the introduction of data science, has provided a significant boost to biotech companies, which are responding to emerging health threats faster than ever before (e.g. Covid-19). Biotechnology, today and in the future, requires large-scale collaborations, bringing countries and governments together to address common health and environmental challenges and increase the diffusion and accessibility of novel technologies and expertise. However, while biotechnology has the potential to foster global collaborations, it can also cause disruptions, increase inequality, and exacerbate international competition. Additionally, manipulating living matter may intensify ethical debates, and cause division in public opinion. The main challenge for the future of biotechnology resides in communication; communication between governments, countries, and particularly between scientists and the general public. International acceptance and public support could boost funding, research and discovery, paving the way for a more healthy and sustainable future.
