PGJCCR Post Doc Natalie Fisher Wins Coveted Roche Prize
Postdoctoral Research fellow Dr Natalie Fisher has been awarded the prestigious Roche Researcher of the Year Award.
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The Roche Prize, which seeks to highlight and support excellence in life science research across the island of Ireland, was awarded to Dr Fisher on the strength of two published papers and a cover letter exploring the tangible impact of her research.
The first of these studies involved working alongside a pathologist to explore the assessment of a pathological feature called tumour budding, which is a high-risk biomarker used to inform patient care, and developing a digital method to improve its detection. The second paper involved working through a frequently observed problem in cancer research: that the complexity and variety of cell types in patient tumour samples often make it difficult to directly apply findings from the wet-lab into tumour samples.
“Despite both papers having different focuses,” Dr Fisher said, “they both ensure we have the tools to accurately understand the biology of aggressive tumours, ultimately enabling better clinical management and the development of potential treatments to improve patient outcomes.”
The application process for the award involved Dr Fisher drafting a summary of her work that explained its impact.
“This was a really useful way to think of how I define the success of a paper,” Dr Fisher explained. “For me, it’s important that other people have understood the work and can apply it to their own studies. I hope that others are encouraged to also shape their work into a story which will be useful for the wider scientific community.”
Dr Fisher completed her PhD in 2022 and now works in PGJCCR’s Dunne lab. Dr Philip Dunne was a previous recipient of the Roche Prize, taking the award in 2013 for his presentation AXL is a Key Regulator of Inherent and Chemotherapy Induced Invasion and Predicts a Poor Clinical Outcome in Early Stage Colon Cancer.
Dr Fisher’s papers are available to read at the links below: