“My mother was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma during my master’s in neurosciences. This had a profound impact on me and ultimately inspired me to switch fields and start a PhD in cancer research. I initially studied glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive brain cancers. I investigated combination therapies designed to stop glioblastoma growth. What we observed, however, was that instead of dying, many cancer cells entered a dormant state known as senescence.
Trying to understand why this happened led my research in a completely new direction: mitochondria. Mitochondria are best known as the cell’s powerhouse, but I became increasingly fascinated by how much more they do. During a late-night experiment in the COVID-19 pandemic, we looked through the microscope and realized we were seeing something exciting: the treatment was stopping glioblastoma growth by changing the mitochondria.
Our work further showed that mitochondria can determine whether cancer cells enter senescence and whether these dormant cells are sensitive to therapy. This work was made possible through close collaborations with amazing researchers at the NKI, which was one of the most rewarding aspects of my PhD. I am sure that there is still much to discover about the fascinating world of mitochondria. I am hopeful that studying them could help us design more effective cancer therapies that will one day make an impact on cancer patients like my mother.”
Chrysiida is now working as a postdoctoral fellow in Amsterdam UMC developing multi-organ-on-a-chip platforms to study melanoma metastasis. She will defend her thesis on February 11.
Research at the Netherlands Cancer Institute is financially supported by KWF Dutch Cancer Society and the AVL Foundation.
Promotor(s)
Jos Beijnen
Copromotor(s)
Olaf van Tellingen & Mark de Gooijer