Category: Year 2021

Fatima is a 2^nd year PhD student at School of Optometry & Vision Science, UNSW and proud women champion. Her research focuses on developing methods to understand the structure and function of oil producing glands that prevent eyes from getting dry. Her research work will not only help clinicians and researchers but also industry in developing newer therapeutic targets for dry eyes. Fatima is an amazing success story following her dreams from Pakistan to UNSW Australia and beyond!

For as long as she can remember, Fatima has been fascinated with vision. It started with drawing and art and interpreting the world around her. Encouraged by her father, Fatima started studying optometry, and began to understand how the world is perceived by each individual. Fatima soon realised her passion for optometry, finishing her Bachelors degree in 2016 closely followed by a Masters degree in 2018 from a renowned university in Pakistan.

Currently, under supervision of Scientia Prof Fiona Stapleton, Prof Eric Papas and Dr Jacqueline Tan, Fatima is developing methods to understand the structure and function of Meibomian Glands – the oil producing glands in the eyelids that secrete oils to prevent eyes from getting dry. If these meibomian glands do not produce enough oils, it can lead to dry eye disease. More than 50% of Australian population is suffering from dry eye disease and many of which go undiagnosed. Fatima’s research involves establishing clinically useful methods that will having better understanding of the form and shape of these glands which will ultimately help researchers, clinicians and industry in developing new therapeutics targets as well as early detection of dry eye disease.

Fatima did not end up in Prof. Fiona Stapleton’s lab by accident. Prof. Stapleton was her role model throughout her undergraduate studies, and Fatima closely followed her work which inspired her to pursue research. Fatima decided to move from Pakistan to UNSW for her PhD so that she could work with Prof. Stapleton. To date, she has published 12 peer-reviewed publications, achieved 18 awards and two patents and proud mentee at IMNIS (Industry Mentor Networking in STEM) 2021.

However, Fatima’s journey so far has not been without its challenges. Coming from a country where women are not encouraged or expected to work independently was a challenge. Fatima’s parents had only daughters, and relatives suggested not to spend money on their girls education. Luckily, Fatima’s parents were very supportive and encouraged them to not only get educated, but pursue careers in STEM.

“We are blessed to have such amazing parents that provided us each and every opportunity to live our dreams. My father used to travel with me in peripheral areas to organise eye camps for marginalised people, he helped me in establishing my own practice in Pakistan and also drove me to attend meetings with professionals in STEM.”

It is not easy following a passion, especially if it is not common due to location, demographic or other factors. Fatima has some great words of advice for anyone considering a career in STEM.

“Two things! First, it’s important for any young person starting their career in STEM to realize that persistence is the biggest key to success. There will come a time where the technical challenges might be too overwhelming, or your proposed solution to a problem is not producing the anticipated results, despite your best efforts. These are all positive things, not negative! It means that you have chosen to work on a challenging problem, you are pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, and all you need is to persist and put more thought into it.

Second is to not be afraid to get uncomfortable. Often times, you may find opportunities that you think you can’t do, but the truth is that you really can. It’s okay to feel uncomfortable and try things you’ve never done before, because you never know, it might turn out that you actually like it.”

Aside from conducting her PhD, Fatima also loves travelling and has been enjoying the sites of Sydney. Despite COVID-19, Fatima has explored the coasts and climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Fatima is an amazing and inspiring addition to the UNSW women in maths and science champions program. She has shared her journey with students at North Sydney Girls high school on careers day, and discussed STEM careers with Indigenous students in a Nura Gili youth leadership workshop. I look forward to following the achievements of Fatima as she continues being a STEM professional and role model for younger scientists!

Emma Harding is a UNSW Woman in Maths and Science Champion and a passionate paleovirologist. Her PhD research is a unique combination of virology and evolutionary biology, focussing on the distribution, evolution and function of endogenous viral elements in vertebrate genomes. With an interest in marsupials, she investigates the prevalence and expression of endogenous viral elements from RNA viruses in cells. 

Since a young age, Emma has always been fascinated by science, with a particular interest in animals and paleontology. The film Jurassic Park contributed to her attraction to science (and it certainly helped that there’s a Dr. Harding in the second film). Now she works as a paleovirologist, where she is interested in the interplay between viruses and their hosts as well as the impact of viruses on the evolution of animals. 

Emma started her tertiary education with a bioinformatics major at UNSW, using computational science to address biological questions. During her first year she completed microbiology courses, where she became interested in the complex arms race between viruses and their infected host. Eager to learn more, Emma decided to change to a major in Microbiology to better understand the complex processes between microbes and the immune system. 

She undertook her Honours year under Prof. Peter White in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences at UNSW, investigating broad-spectrum antivirals against positive sense RNA viruses. In this research, she focused on a mosquito-borne family of viruses termed Flaviviridae, which include Zika virus, Dengue virus and West Nile virus. Her project involved expressing a viral enzyme called RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) in bacterial cells and screening them against an array of antiviral compounds, with the aim of identifying drugs that could inhibit Flaviviridae. Emma worked as a Research Assistant in the same lab to finalise her experiments and investigate PhD opportunities. 

Emma continued her postgraduate studies under Prof. White, commencing a PhD in 2020. Emma’s PhD research focuses on viral “fossils”. When a virus infects a host, DNA from the virus can enter the genome of the infected host and remain integrated through millions of years of evolution. These remnants of previous viral infections can be used as “fossils” to trace the evolution of viral families. Emma is interested in determining whether they have an evolutionary advantage, such as in normal viral defence or in developmental processes. She focuses on the viral families Bornaviridae and Filoviridae, which, despite the fact there are over 160 viral families, are among the most conserved viral fossils in vertebrates.  

Emma predominantly performs her research using bioinformatics, coming full circle from the early focuses of her tertiary education. She comments on this, saying that if you enjoy a particular subject, eventually you’ll find yourself in that field, even if it takes a few different paths to get there. Alongside her research, Emma is listed as a UNSW Sydney COVID-19 expert. 

Emma loves science not just as a career, but also as a hobby. She practices genetics in her spare time, using shrimp as her model organism of choice. She purchases different coloured dwarf Neocardinia shrimp, such as red shrimp and blue shrimp, and performs crosses, observing the colour of their offspring. She also enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy game where players create their own characters that embark upon adventures together. Emma emphasises that, especially during the current pandemic, it is important to have hobbies and activities that keep you in contact with friends and family, whatever those hobbies may be.  

The more I talk to Emma, the more abundantly evident it is that science truly is her passion. One piece of advice Emma has for young scientists is to give everything a try. She recommends taking different courses at university until you find your niche. 

To find out more about Emma’s research, follow her on Twitter or visit her website.