Profile

I am an expatriate researcher. I had my Ph.D. in Switzerland and now I have been working on my post-doctoral research. I have been living in Edinburgh for more than 5 years but still, I haven’t tried a deep-fried Mars Bar! My favorite thing to do in Edinburgh is going out with friends and discovering new coffee shops or pubs. I used to swim and play squash regularly but nowadays I am just enjoying long walks and Scottish nature fascinates me every day. My guilty pleasure is watching Friends 1000th time while having a weekend brunch.

Our research group aims to understand the role of macrophages in cancer progression. Macrophages are a part of our innate immune system and their major role is to protect us against the microbes. However, they do not protect us against cancer, on the contrary, macrophages and other immune cells such as T cells, are helping cancer cells to grow and to escape to other organs. Studies showed that macrophages inside the tumour are different than the other macrophages that usually protect us, despite the origin of these cells are the same. Macrophages in fact are quite responsive to their surrounding environment and can change their profile like a chameleon. In the last few decades, scientists found that actually some of those macrophages in the tumour can fight against cancer, the question is how to convert them become a fighter again while their surrounding environment is suppressing their anti-tumoral function. Currently, researchers are trying to reveal new markers to better understand the profiles of macrophages in the tumour so they can promote their anti-tumoral function. We need our immune system to fight with cancer because chemotherapy and radiotherapy sometimes is not sufficient to kill cancer. Recent studies showed that cancer therapy could become much more effective if our immune system could fight with cancer. Therefore, those anti-tumoral macrophages in the tumour could play a crucial role in cancer therapy. In our group, we want to reveal tumour fighter and tumour promoter macrophages in breast cancer. We are using coloured (fluorescent) microscope technology. We developed an imaging method that allows us to visualize several macrophage markers and other immune cell markers on cancer tissues. We have samples that were collected from breast cancer patients during surgery or biopsy. These samples were sectioned in micrometer thickness, we label these samples with these markers and image them under the microscope. From these microscopic level images, we identify each cell object and give them a code based on the markers that they were labeled. Then using machine learning, we teach machines to identify other cells that have the same features. The machine then scans thousands of cells and gives us a profile of different cells among the entire cancer tissue. We then analyse each sample and determine which macrophage type is more dominant and if there is any correlation with cancer type and response to therapy.

I usually start my work at 9:30 am and finish it at around 7-8 pm. In the morning I like to design my experiments and plan the rest of the week on my calendar. Before designing any experiments I make sure  I read the recent articles in that field and try to understand how researchers address their scientific questions. First I reassess whether which experiment could give me the right answers. After I decide on an experiment,  I establish the protocols and I order materials that are required for these experiments. Then I go to the laboratory and start my experiments following the protocol that I had written before. I am staining breast cancer samples using a staining robot, I prepare the machine and prepare the reagents that is necessary for staining. Depending on the sample number, these experiments could take couple of hours or couple of days. While robot is staining these samples, I start the other experiments that is related to my other project where I use tumor cells. When the staining is finished I take the samples to the imaging room and image these under the microscope. After the imaging is completed, I open these images using an image analysis software and process the images. For more complicated analysis I am working with my colleague who is an imaging specialist. All these experiments are performed in different rooms and buildings,  so some days could be pretty exhausting,  which is a good workout if I don’t have time to do any exercise on that day. Some days I spend the entire day in front of the computer, doing just image analysis. At the end of each experiment, we plot our results on graphs where we can compare the different results. These results lead us to design the next experiments for the project.