20 Issue 55 – February 2016 – QUEEN MARGARET CALLING
Lochleven supporter Alanna always knew she wanted a career
in science. She attended the College from 2003 to 2007 and
Biology quickly became one of her favourite subjects.
Struggling to choose between a RadiationTherapy or Biomedical
Science Degree in her final year, Alanna received some useful advice
from then Careers Adviser and Old Girl herself, Mrs Shona Carstens.
“She thought I would get bored being a radiation therapist and
doing the same thing every day. For once I listened, and in retrospect
that was very good advice for me,” Alanna says.
“One of my favourite things about research is that what I do is
always changing, it is very rare that two days are the same.”
After finishing secondary school Alanna went straight to Victoria
University in 2008, where she began a Bachelor of Biomedical
Science.
“I had a feeling that if I went travelling first I wouldn’t want to
come back to study, so I thought I was best just to get straight into
it,” she comments.
“Although, I didn’t anticipate that I would only just be finishing
at university eight years later.”
At the end of her second year Alanna was fortunate to receive a
summer internship with Professor Mike Berridge at the Malaghan
Institute of Medical Research.
“That first summer I worked on a cancer research project,
looking at the mechanism of action of a drug isolated from a sea
sponge.
“I really loved being in the lab and at the end of the summer I
knew I wanted to do cancer research as a career.”
Alanna began her Masters in 2011 under Professor Berridge’s
supervision at the Malaghan Institute before she converted to a PhD,
which she handed in September 2015.
An interest in science has led Old Girl Alanna
Cameron into a fascinating career researching
cancer immunology.
Ground-breaking Research
Alanna’s PhD research has been in cancer immunology, an
area of research that studies interactions between cancer and
the immune system with the aim of developing treatments called
immunotherapies to harness the immune system to fight cancer.
“I have been investigating combining a targeted anti-melanoma
drug with an immunotherapy in models of melanoma. It’s been a
really exciting area to be working in for the last few years as recently
there have been a number of breakthroughs using immunotherapy
to treat cancer, and specifically to treat melanoma. “
For Alanna, one of the perks of completing a PhD has been the
travel opportunities. Alanna has attended conferences throughout
New Zealand, as well as in Australia, USA and Canada.
“These conferences and lab visits have been invaluable
experiences. I’ve met top cancer and immunology researchers and
been exposed to some cutting edge facilities and research.”
As her PhD has progressed, Alanna has become more and
more interested in how the immune system functions, or does not,
which has relevance to many diseases. In 2016 Alanna started a
postdoctoral position at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology
and Epigenetics, in Freiburg, Germany.
“In Germany, my research will be looking at how immune cells
use energy, and how this impacts their function,” Alanna says.
“I’m really excited about this new adventure!”