博士求学之旅：一段充满挑战但又收获颇丰的经历
Dr Attila Szénási, from Hungary, has recently graduated from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University with a PhD in Biological Sciences. His academic journey is full of many challenges and valuable gains. In his research, he has worked intensively with numerous experts in different disciplines. His studies in Academy of Pharmacy provided him with the necessary skills and resources to achieve breakthrough results in his field of study. In the following interview, Attila shares with us why he chose the Academy of Pharmacy, his passion for his research, and how the learning experience has helped him develop professionally and personally.
来自匈牙利的Attila Szénási博士最近从西交利物浦大学获得了生物科学博士学位。他的学术旅程充满了很多挑战和宝贵的收获。在他的研究中，他与众多专家和合作伙伴展开了深入合作。他在西浦慧湖药学院的学习经历为他提供了必要的技术和资源，使他能够在这一领域取得突破性的成果。在下面的访谈中，Attila将与我们分享他选择药学院的原因、他对研究的热情以及在药学院的学习经历如何帮助他在专业和个人方面的发展。
Q1
Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
你能给我们介绍一下你自己吗？
I grew up in Hungary. My first inspiration for biomedical sciences came from my father, who was from an academic background and was a medical doctor in the primary care field. He helped fuel my passion for science and inquisitiveness to learn new things.
I first came to Suzhou in January 2019 and spent four years completing my PhD studies here. When I’m not working or doing research, you can probably find me on the basketball court. I also enjoy exploring various cuisines in the kitchen or playing with my two absolutely adorable dogs, Yono and Buddy.
我在匈牙利长大。我对生物医学科学的第一次启发来自于我的父亲，他拥有学术背景，而且是一名初级保健领域的医生。他帮助激发了我对科学的热情和对学习新事物的好奇心。
我于2019年1月首次来到苏州，花了大约四年的时间在这里完成我的博士项目。当我不工作或从事研究时，你可能会在篮球场上找到我。我也喜欢在厨房里探索各种美食，或者和我的两只非常可爱的狗狗Yono和Buddy一起玩耍。
Q2
What made you interested in studying at XJTLU?
是什么让你对西交利物浦大学感兴趣？
After completing my master’s studies in nanomedicine, I started looking for a translational research PhD project in the similar field. I found out there was an opening in Professor Mu Wang’s new lab at XJTLU, and the project happened to perfectly align with my research interest and skills in the area of cancer therapeutics.
Even though I received a few other offers from the UK and USA, the prospect of coming to China, a country I had never visited, gave me a sense of excitement, and I wanted to explore it. I think the project scope, my supervisor’s expertise, and XJTLU’s state-of-the-art campus and facilities were additional decisive factors.
在完成纳米医学的硕士学业后，我开始寻找同一领域从事转化医学方面研究的博士项目。我发现西交利物浦大学王牧教授的新实验室有一个空缺的名额，而这个项目恰好与我在癌症治疗领域的研究兴趣和技能完美契合。
尽管我收到了来自英国和美国的其他几份录取通知书，但来到中国，这个我从未到过的国家，未来的前景让我感到特别兴奋，我想去探索它。我认为，项目的规模、我的导师的专业水平，以及西交利物浦大学最先进的校园和设施是我决定来到这里的关键因素。
Q3
I see you already had a Doctor of Medicine degree; why did you choose to study for a PhD in Biological Sciences?
我了解到，其实您已经获得了医学博士学位，您为什么还要选择攻读生物科学博士？
In this modern age of medicine, it’s widely agreed that physicians should contribute more towards their respective specialities in addition to being able to provide exemplary patient care. This paradigm shift and the ability to push the boundaries of medical knowledge require specialised research skills and a solid understanding of the newest technologies and therapeutics.
We are entering an era of personalised medicine, and I feel that having interdisciplinary knowledge of biology and medicine is indispensable for a physician to fully exploit the benefits of these novel treatments for patient care.
在现代医学时代，人们普遍认为，医生除了为病人提供卓越的护理外，还应在自己的专业领域做出更多贡献。这种模式的转变以及推动医学知识发展的能力需要专业的研究技能以及对最新技术和疗法的扎实了解。
我们正在进入一个个性化医疗的时代，我认为，作为一名医生，要想充分利用这些新疗法为患者提供护理，就必须具备生物学和医学的跨学科知识。
Q4
What are the benefits of studying for this degree at XJTLU?
在西交利物浦大学攻读这个学位有哪些益处？
As my project was broadly a novel RNA-based drug development initiative requiring industrial collaborations, it was convenient that the University is located in Suzhou Industrial Park, especially in the BioBAY area, which is the central hub for biotech companies and world-class research institutions. Naturally, it was beneficial for me and the project, as I received plenty of guidance from industry experts while simultaneously being able to have access to cutting-edge equipment and technologies.
Furthermore, given the mission of the Academy of Pharmacy is to develop novel therapeutics for various diseases with potential for commercialisation, it was a delight to work with colleagues sharing the same mindset. This also greatly helped me keep on the right track to becoming an expert in biopharmaceutical innovation.
由于我的项目是一个基于RNA新型核酸药物开发计划，需要和产业合作，而西浦位于苏州工业园区，特别是在生物技术公司和世界级研究机构聚集的核心区域BioBAY，这对我来说非常便利。当然，这对我和项目来说都是有益的，我能够得到不同行业专家的指导，同时也能够使用最尖端的设备和技术。
此外，鉴于药学院的使命之一是开发具有商业化潜力的各种疾病的新型治疗方法，能够与志同道合的同事一起工作是一件愉快的事。这也极大地引领我走在成为生物制药创新专家的正确道路上。
Q5
Can you share some special moments during your time here?
你能分享一下你在这里的一些特别时刻吗？
During a PhD, you get used to failing a lot. One has to be resilient and should acquire “failure tolerance” given that 95% of the time, something is going to go sideways with your experiments, which requires prolonged troubleshooting efforts and problem-solving skills. I truly appreciate the moments when everything fell into place during the discovery process. During these times, I received plenty of support from my supervisor Prof. Wang and my fellow PhD colleague, He (Todd) Chao, whether it was a scientific discussion or mastering a complex technique. I was also lucky to have support from our lab technicians, Ms. Manting Qi and Ms. Shuxuan Zhao, who ensured smooth sailing during my time in the lab. Not to mention all those amazing hotpot dinners and Christmas parties, so I felt like I was at my home away from home.
I had the privilege of working with Ms. Enakshi Sivasudhan, who contributed significantly to developing our graphene delivery system and received plenty of support during my PhD studies. Also, it was also fun playing basketball and tennis with my new friends and my supervisor. He’s quite a good point guard on basketball court, actually, and I’m not saying that because he’s my boss, I already got my PhD. Haha!
在攻读博士学位期间，你会对于失败习以为常。一个人必须有坚韧不拔的品质，并且要有“容忍失败”的能力才能取得最后的胜利，因为95%的时间，你的实验都会出现问题，这必须要有长时间的故障排除和解决问题的能力去处理。我也非常感激在发现过程中一切都顺利的时刻。在这些时候，无论是科学讨论还是复杂技术的掌握，我的导师王牧教授和我的博士同学何超都给予了我很多支持。我也很幸运地得到了我们实验室技术人员齐曼婷女士和赵舒璇女士的支持，她们确保了我的实验工作的顺利进行。更不用说那些美味的火锅晚餐和圣诞派对了，让我感觉就像在家里一样。
我有幸与Enakshi Sivasudhan女士一起工作，她在我们的石墨烯递送系统的开发中做出了重要贡献，并在我的读博期间提供了很多支持。另外，与我的新朋友以及我的导师一起打篮球和网球也非常有趣。事实上，王牧教授在篮球场上是个不错的控球后卫，我说他好并不是因为他是我的老板，我可是已经拿到我的博士学位了，哈哈！
Q6
What topics in the programme have you found most interesting or useful? And why?
你觉得课程中哪些主题最有趣或最实用？为什么？
My Independent PhD Progress Assessment Panel (IPAP) member, Dr Ferdinand Kappes, once told me: “It takes a village to raise a PhD student.” In my case, it may have been a whole province!
Apart from my regular interaction with academics, my daily brainstorming with industrial experts also helped me elevate my project scientifically. I received plenty of academic support from Dr Trevor Mahy, who advised me on attending conferences, research integrity, and, in general, writing a good thesis.
It would be impossible for me to list all the staff members who have encouraged me. However, a special mention goes to Prof. Kim Lau, Prof. Eric Amigues, Prof. Guoxia Han, Prof. Graham Dawson, Prof. Rong Rong and Prof. Meng Huee Lee for their genuine concerns with my project progress and their cheerful nature, which has inspired me to pursue a career in academia.
我的独立博士进度评估小组(IPAP)成员费迪南德·卡佩斯博士曾告诉我:“培养一个博士生需要全村的努力。”但对我来说，可能要一整个省!
除了与学者的定期交流，我每天与行业专家的头脑风暴也科学地帮助我提升了我的项目。Trevor Mahy博士给了我很多学术上的支持，他建议我参加会议，保持学术诚信，总的来说，写一篇好论文。
列出所有鼓励过我的工作人员来说可能有些困难。但是，在此我要特别感谢Kim Lau教授、Eric Amigues教授、韩国霞教授、Graham Dawson教授、Rong Rong教授和Meng Huee Lee教授，感谢他们对我项目进展的关心，以及他们开朗的态度，激励我在学术界发展。
Q7
How did you benefit from having two PhD supervisors?
你在两位博士生导师这里有什么收获？
My Liverpool supervisor, Professor Sonia Rocha, is a world-renowned expert in cancer biology, while my XJTLU supervisor, Professor Mu Wang, is a pioneer in the field of clinical proteomics. This combination of skill sets has definitely given me an edge when it comes to approaching a problem from different perspectives. During my time as a PhD student, they have encouraged me to dive deep into answering my research questions while also keeping an eye on broader goals involving my future career.
我在利物浦大学的导师Sonia Rocha教授是世界知名的癌症生物学专家，我在西交利物浦大学的导师王牧教授是临床蛋白质组学领域的先驱。这种技能组合无疑给了我从不同角度处理问题的优势。在我读博期间，他们鼓励我深入探究我的研究问题，同时也关注与我未来职业生涯相关的更广泛目标。
Q8
Can you share your current research topic with us and why you are interested in this topic?
可以和我们分享一下你目前的研究课题吗?你为什么对这个课题感兴趣？
I am working on finding an improved treatment for ovarian cancer, which is one of the deadliest diseases for women. It is primarily treated with a chemotherapeutic drug called cisplatin, which is initially very effective in killing ovarian cancer cells. However, usually after a few months, roughly 70% of women experience their cancer coming back, which no longer responds to additional cisplatin-based chemotherapy treatment.
We call this phenomenon chemotherapy resistance. It is a very severe problem in the clinical setting, as these patients have considerably limited treatment options, further shortening their chance of survival.
Our lab identified a protein molecule which is associated with the previously mentioned “cisplatin resistance” when present at high levels. Thus, we used an approach which is similar to the technology used for COVID-19 vaccine development, to reverse this effect by lowering this particular protein’s expression level. We have put an RNA molecule in a nanoparticle protective shield which helps to stabilize and deliver our drug to tumour cells.
Compared to mRNA therapeutics that primarily aim to increase the level of a protein, our specific RNA, which is called small-interfering RNA (siRNA), helps to decrease the level of the protein associated with cisplatin resistance, thus reversing the resistance effect.
siRNA therapeutics are a new class of drugs, and currently, only four have made it to market since their first Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 2018.
我正在研究卵巢癌的改进治疗方法，卵巢癌是女性最致命的疾病之一。它主要是用一种叫做顺铂的化疗药物治疗，这种药物最初对杀死卵巢癌细胞非常有效。然而，通常几个月后，大约70%的女性会出现癌症复发，卵巢癌细胞对额外的顺铂化疗就不再有反应了。
我们称这种现象为化疗耐药性。这在临床上是一个非常严重的问题，因为这些患者的治疗方案选择相当有限，这样会进一步缩小他们的生存机会。
我们实验室发现了一种与“顺铂耐药性”相关的并在顺铂耐药性细胞中高表达的蛋白分子。因此，我们采用了一种与COVID-19疫苗研发相似的技术来逆转这种效应。我们把一个RNA分子放在一个纳米粒子保护罩里，这有助于我们药物稳定性和有效地将药物运送到肿瘤细胞中。
与主要旨在增加蛋白质水平的mRNA治疗不同，我们的特定RNA被称为小干扰RNA(siRNA)，有助于降低与顺铂耐药相关的蛋白质水平，从而逆转耐药效应。
siRNA疗法是一类新的药物，自2018年首次获得美国食品和药物管理局(FDA)批准以来，目前只有四种药物进入市场。
Q9
I heard that you took part in the research collaboration programmes at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Can you share your experience with us?
我听说你参加了与制药和生物技术公司的合作研究项目。你能和我们分享一下你的经历吗?
My research and the development of such a complex RNA-based drug formulation required a combination of various technologies and resources.
In the first phase of my project, I worked with Professor Zhijun Zhang, a nanotechnology expert from Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics (SINANO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Our collaboration resulted in a novel graphene oxide-based drug delivery system and a high-impact publication in Cancer Gene Therapy (by Nature).
In the second part of my project, I got to work with Suzhou Abogen Biosciences, a pioneer in COVID-19 mRNA vaccine development. Dr. Bo Ying, the founder and CEO of Suzhou Abogen Biosciences, provided us with a proprietary nanoparticle formulation which we tailored for our purposes. In addition, I got to test these formulations in humanized rodent ovarian cancer animal models at Suzhou GenePharma with the help of its founder and CEO, Dr. Peizhuo Zhang, in their state-of-the-art experimental animal facility. Their expertise provided me with the perfect platform to carry out my research, for which I am extremely grateful.
我的研究和这种复杂的、基于RNA的药物配方的开发需要多种技术和资源的结合。
在项目的第一阶段，我与中国科学院苏州纳米技术与纳米仿生研究所(SINANO)的纳米技术专家张智军教授合作。我们的合作产出是一篇高影响力的文章：一种新型的氧化石墨烯药物传递系统，并在【自然】杂志子刊【癌症基因治疗】上发表。
在项目的第二部分，我有机会与苏州艾博生物科技有限公司合作，这是一家核酸技术初创公司，也是中国新冠病毒mRNA疫苗开发的先驱。苏州艾博生物科技有限公司的创始人兼首席执行官英博博士为我们提供了一种艾博生物专有的纳米颗粒配方，为我们研究项目进行量身定制。此外，我还在苏州吉玛基因股份有限公司的创始人兼首席执行官张佩琢博士的帮助下，在他们最先进的实验动物设施中，在人源化的啮齿动物卵巢癌模型上测试了这些配方。他们的专业知识为我的研究提供了完美的平台，对此我非常感激。
Q10
For people who do not live in Suzhou, especially Suzhou Industrial Park, what do you think about living in this area?
对于没有在苏州生活过的人，特别是苏州工业园区，您认为这里的生活怎么样？
I love Suzhou for its beautiful gardens and breathtaking water towns; it is appropriately called the “Venice of the East”!
It’s a modern city yet has an essence of rich culture, and I find that the people here are very hospitable. I remember feeling welcomed by the locals as somehow they recognised and accepted how unfamiliar it could be for a foreigner exploring a new land.
Not to mention there are some iconic spots like Yangcheng Lake, which is one of my favourite places, and their crab season is something I look forward to every October, as I love seafood.
Suzhou is also one of the cleanest cities I have been to. Its efficient public transport system and being just a 30-minute train ride away from Shanghai makes it all the more convenient for me.
我喜欢苏州美丽的园林和令人叹为观止的水乡;它是名副其实的“东方威尼斯”！
这是一个现代化的城市，但有丰富的文化精髓，我发现这里的人非常好客。我记得当时感到当地人非常友好，他们似乎意识到并接受了一个外国人探索新土地的陌生感。
更不用说阳澄湖这样的标志性景点了，阳澄湖是我最喜欢的地方之一，那里的螃蟹季节是我每年10月都期待的，因为我喜欢海鲜。
苏州也是我去过的最干净的城市之一。它高效的公共交通系统，距离上海只有30分钟的高铁车程，这对我来说更方便。
Q11
Is there anything we haven’t yet discussed you think is important about your experience as a PhD student at the Academy of Pharmacy?
对于你在药学院读博的经历，你认为还有什么重要的事情想和我们分享的吗？
Multiple factors helped our research efforts to be successful. Not only a good project proposal and industrial collaboration experience from our multi-disciplinary team but also a great deal of financial support was necessary. I’m grateful to Professor Wang and Professor Rocha for providing the required tangible and intangible assets for this project.
On a personal level, these four years have been the most challenging yet rewarding time concerning personal and professional development. It has allowed me to grow as an independent researcher, make critical decisions, establish novel hypotheses and manage our collaborations with industrial partners.
很多因素帮助我们的研究工作取得了成功。我们的多学科团队不仅需要一个好的项目提案和行业合作经验，还需要大量的资金支持。我非常感谢王教授和Rocha教授为这个项目提供了所需的有形和无形资源。
就我个人而言，这四年是我在个人和职业发展方面最具挑战性但也最有收获的时期。它使我成长为一名独立的研究人员，做出关键的决定，建立新的假设，并管理我们与行业伙伴的合作。
Professor Mu Wang, Executive Dean of the Academy of Pharmacy, comments: “Attila is one of the best PhD students I’ve ever trained. In four years of my interaction with Attila, I found that he is not only a very hardworking, responsible and dedicated researcher who is very generous and helpful to others, but also a very active individual to promote science in this internationalised university. In addition, his leadership ability as a representative of PhD students in our programme prepares him well for taking on the next challenge in his professional life.”
药学院的执行院长王牧教授评价说：“Attila是我培养过的最好的博士生之一。在我与Attila的四年交往中，我发现他不仅是一个非常勤奋、负责、敬业、慷慨助人的研究者，也是一个非常积极的个体，在这所国际化的大学里促进科学的发展。此外，作为我们项目博士生的代表，他的领导能力为他迎接职业生涯中的下一个挑战做好了准备。”
Reported by Liwen Yu and Attila SzénásiEdited by Xinmin Han and Catherine Diamond
Photos provided by Attila Szénási
New Media and translation by Zhuomei He
Produced by Junzhe Guan
记者 | 俞丽雯、Attila Szénási
编辑 | 韩欣敏、Catherine Diamond
照片提供 | Attila Szénási
新媒体、翻译 | 和卓美
监制| 管君哲
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