10 Questions with Gintvile Valinciute
Gintvile Valinciute, 26, from Lithuania, is a PhD student at the Clinical Cooperation Unit Pediatric Oncology at the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and Hopp Children’s Tumor Centre at the NCT Heidelberg (KiTZ) in Germany.
She is currently working on two projects and both of them involve an extremely aggressive type of medulloblastoma, which is one of the most common malignant brain cancers in children. On one hand she is trying to decipher a particular protein complex involved in the tumorigenesis. On another hand, she tries to find a suitable and clinically-relevant combination of small molecule drugs to target medulloblastoma.
Gintvile will participate in the 68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.
Enjoy the interview with Gintvile and get inspired:
- What inspired you to pursue a career in science?
I did not think of pursuing a career in science until I was in the second year of high school. I think the reason for that is the fact that all my family members have careers in arts and humanities and as a child I was never actually introduced to the world of science. However, when I was 16 and started thinking what to study after I’m done with high school, I realized that I am very interested and good at biology, especially the molecular side of it. One of the biggest inspirations to go for it and pursue career in biosciences was and still is my biology teacher at high school. She decided to teach after getting a degree in microbiology, thus she was especially interested and excited giving the lessons about the molecular machinery of the cell. Then I decided, that I will study molecular biology and become a scientist.
- Who are your role models?
The most important role models for me are the women of my family, my mother and grandmother. They kept their heads high even during the hardest times, they taught me how to read and write when I was very young, and they always encouraged me to pursue my dreams and to have an informed opinion on everything. I am extremely thankful for the opportunities my mom and grandma gave me. Regarding the role models in science world I was always very fond of the work done by Marie Sklodowska Curie, Rosalind Franklin and Barbara McClintock. I think these women were both, amazing scientists and inspiring leaders.
- How did you get to where you are in your career path?
I studied BSc Genetics at Vilnius University (VU) in the capital of Lithuania (2010-2014). During that time, I strengthened my goal to become a scientist, learned a lot, both in the studies and in general. I volunteered for numerous organizations, helped to promote life sciences at schools, studied abroad (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) and found amazing people who taught me a lot. One of them was Prof. Dr. Juozas Lazutka, a program leader of BSc Genetics. After my BSc studies, I decided to continue my studies in Germany at the Heidelberg University. The decision to leave my country was determined mainly by the fact that I wanted to pursue another specialty and it was not offered at VU. At the Heidelberg University I studied Molecular Biosciences with major in Cancer Biology. The program partner is the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ). Here I learned a lot, tried a few different fields in cancer biology, did an abroad internship (Karolinska Institute, Sweden), published my first paper and enjoyed scientific environment provided by the DKFZ. Therefore, I decided to stay here for my PhD as well. After my MSc thesis internship in Epigenomics and Cancer Risk Factors division, I realized that I would like to do research in a more translational, more clinical topic. Thus, currently I am working in the Clinical Coperation Unit Pediatric Oncology in the the group of translational brain tumor modelling in one of the best teams I have ever worked in, lead by Prof. Dr. med. Olaf Witt and PD Dr. med. Till Milde.
- What is the coolest project you have worked on and why?
I think the coolest project I have worked on is my PhD project (current). It is very challenging both, in methodical and biological point of view, however, it is also very rewarding since the drug combination I am researching could eventually be used in clinics.
- What’s a time you felt immense pride in yourself / your work?
Aside from the more “official” accomplishments, such as achieving academic degrees or seeing my publication printed, I always feel very proud when the experiment I have been optimizing for weeks or months finally works. In my first year of PhD I have been working on one particularly tricky co-immunoprecipitation protocol for a couple of months, and in the beginning of this year it finally worked and showed exactly what I wanted with almost no background signal. Even though it is just a tiny detail of my work I still felt amazing when I saw that complex of proteins
- What is a “day in the life” of Gintvile like?
I am a morning person, so I wake up at 6 AM every morning and walk to the lab. I get there at approximately 7:30 AM, check the emails and start some experiments I planned. My colleagues come to the lab at 8-8:30 AM and then we all get our morning coffee and talk for 10 minutes. Afterwards I proceed with planned experiments for that day or go to a course (currently learning a FACS technique). I usually plan a few experiments in parallel, so I would not lose time during the incubation periods. At noon all the lab goes to lunch together. Afterwards we get our second coffee and then I get back to the lab. In the afternoons I work in the cell culture room. We have many meetings (group, division or others) on different days of the week so the routine is sometimes different. Also, every week I have a personal meeting with my team leader where we discuss the results and prospects of the project. I am also involved in some student activities at the DKFZ so usually after work (at 6-7 PM) we meet to discuss the organization of some events. I usually get home at 8-9 PM every day, cook dinner and lunch for the next day and do sports before I go to sleep. I think the fact that every day is different and the possibility to make your own schedule are the things I particularly enjoy as a scientist.
- What are you seeking to accomplish in your career?
Currently, the main short-term goal is to finish my PhD studies in 2019-2020. Afterwards, I would like to stay in research and get a postdoc position overseas, preferably in pediatric oncology. Eventually, I would love to have my own research group and to come back to Lithuania to contribute to the scientific world there.
- What do you like to do when you’re not doing research?
I enjoy organizing various events and contributing to the PhD student society at the DKFZ. This year I was elected to be the member in the DKFZ PhD student body representing structure, DKFZ PhD student Council. Here we are trying to improve the life of PhD students at DKFZ and serving as a connection between the students and the management board. Also, we are organizing various events for PhD students. This year I am leading the student team organizing our summer retreat. Also, I am managing the team organizing 6th Heidelberg Forum for Young Life Scientists, a conference which will be held at the DKFZ on 6th – 7th June 2019 (http://www.life-science-forum-hd.de).
- What advice do you have for other women interested in science?
If you dream of having a career in science, the best advice for you is to never give up and go for your dream. The life of a scientist is difficult, but also very exciting and rewarding. And being a woman in science could also pose some difficulties, but you have to believe in yourself and fear nothing, and, most importantly, to forget the ticking clock that so many people try to impose on you. Don’t follow somebody else’s route – make your own, after all, your job is to make yourself happy and to realize your dreams.
- In your opinion, what will be the next great breakthrough in physiology/medicine?
The field of physiology/medicine is extremely broad and thus it is difficult to pinpoint exact advancements that are going to be the next breakthrough of science. However, since an equally broad answer would suit here, I believe the next great development that was brought by science to clinics is the implementation of stratified/personalized medicine to the everyday clinical routine. Personalized medicine concept is not new, but there are still many challenges to overcome and many questions to be answered. Currently, there are various clinical trials, that involve targeted medicine stratified according to the molecular patterns in various cancer entities. And since the cancer is one of the main health issues in the world, the success of such trials would make a huge impact on the society.
What should be done to increase the number of female scientists and female professors?
In science, there is a very interesting situation of gender distribution in different levels of education. Starting with undergraduate levels until PhD studentships usually there are more female scientists working in biosciences compared to male. However, afterwards the numbers drastically change and usually it is due to the age. Most frequently, people finish their PhD studies in their late 20s or early 30s and this is also the time when most people choose to start a family. And despite of many improvements, especially in the Northern Europe countries, providing a more efficient work-life balance opportunities, many women still decide to stop their career for a while to raise children. The problem here lies in the fact that scientific positions are very difficult to get back to after few years. I think if the job security during the maternal leave would be improved this could be circumvented. In addition, anonymized job applications would be advantageous here. And finally, some women are convinced by the society that simultaneously raising children and having a successful career is next to impossible. To my mind, with the help of employer, such beliefs could be broken and we, women, should encourage each other that nothing is impossible.
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