UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Anna Nagel is discovering why the body forms benign tumors that cause young people to lose hearing and suffer balance issues. Her research into that condition, Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), recently earned her a Young Investigator Award from the Children 麻豆精品 S檚 Tumor Foundation.
The $150,000 award recognizes young NF researchers across the globe who have made groundbreaking findings early in their careers.
Nagel is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Cristina Fern谩ndez-Valle, a Pegasus Professor who leads the Neuroscience Division at the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. 麻豆精品 S疐ern谩ndez-Valle has dedicated her research to NF2 and finding drugs that can induce cell death in these tumors.
Born in Poland, Nagel 麻豆精品 S檚 interest in medicine stemmed from her childhood, where she spent time in hospitals helping her sister, who suffered from myopathy, a disorder that causes severe muscle weakness. That inspired her to earn a bachelor 麻豆精品 S檚 and master 麻豆精品 S檚 in biotechnology and a doctoral degree in breast cancer and tumor microenvironments at the University of Gdansk. She then earned a Fulbright BioLAB Scholarship to join the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation to study the genetics of autoimmune diseases like lupus. 麻豆精品 S疉fter two years, she wished to return to cancer research and joined Fern谩ndez-Valle in 2022.
While NF2 tumors are benign, Fern谩ndez-Valle 麻豆精品 S檚 lab is testing existing, FDA-approved cancer drugs to see if they can kill NF2 tumors. In addition to hearing loss and balance issues, the tumors 麻豆精品 S� called vestibular schwannomas 麻豆精品 S� can cause patients to have difficulty controlling facial expressions, ringing in the ears, and dizziness. While the tumors can be removed surgically, they often grow back quickly and worse than before.
Nagel says she chose to work with Fern谩ndez-Valle because 麻豆精品 S渟he sees the research as translational. We want to give back to the community. 麻豆精品 S�
With the award, Nagel will identify the tumors 麻豆精品 S� internal cellular workings and the best way to kill them. She will present her latest findings at the 2024 Global NF Conference in Brussels later this month.
Her advice to young researchers is to stay open to new avenues for pursuing scientific discoveries.
麻豆精品 S淏e open-minded. Apply for many things, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淒on 麻豆精品 S檛 be discouraged when you get rejected. Being a scientist is a great opportunity. There are great science facilities all around the world. Just have fun. 麻豆精品 S�
