She attends all the project meetings and works outstandingly well, enthusiastic and motivated to learn, and she is able to work independently. She has contributed significantly to the Introduction to Clinical Research workshops. In March, Nadeen Samaien was named Project Student of the Month at the Centre for Translational Medicine.
Nadeen Samaien’s main academic interests are in pharmacology and microbiology. She is particularly interested in chemotherapeutic agents used to treat fungal, parasitic, and other less common infectious diseases. She is drawn to studying areas that are often considered uncomfortable. “I learned about translational medicine through Dr. Mahmoud Obeidat, who encouraged undergraduate students to apply to the program. At that time, I had been actively seeking research opportunities, but the research groups in the Faculty of Pharmacy were already full. When I discovered the CTM, it was my first experience with systematic research, and I was determined to build my skills and learn as much as possible.”
Currently, Nadeen is a TDK student at the Gynecology-Urology Group of CTM. She is involved in the project of Dr. Aniko Valikovics, which means she assists her with different tasks to complete her research on chemotherapeutic agents for metastatic prostate cancer. “This is an interesting story, because as a woman, I am naturally interested in gynecology and the development of better, more effective medications for women's health. However, I was surprised to find that research on urology and prostate cancer caught my eye. I always join weekly meetings where we discuss the current progress. In these events, I offer my help on any tasks I can assist with, for example, by appraising different studies through their abstracts and full text and doing Data Extraction. I have recently joined a second research group focused on pharmacovigilance, where we are working on a narrative review. However, we are still in the early stages of writing our first draft.”
Nadeen is an active member of the International Semmelweis Students' Association (ISSA), and through that, she helped to organize the Introduction to Clinical Research workshop. "As editor-in-chief of The Pulse, the ISSA newsletter, I wanted my team to start working on events aimed at students who want to advance their careers and scientific knowledge. After our Vice President Anushka Rawat came up with the idea of a research workshop, I immediately started working on it. We were also lucky to have Dr. Caner Turan on our side. I organized every member of my team to take on a specific task: finding the most suitable times, registration forms, QR codes and questions. From there, I finalized the last details, communicated with Dr. Caner, created promotional material, reserved the room, and appointed photographers for each day of the event. After the event, my team and I also worked on analyzing the students who came to each event and creating a mailing list so that they can stay updated on CTM events and opportunities.”
It’s not easy to balance research and other duties with university studies, but Nadeen can manage this thing. “To be honest, I am basically a workaholic, my schedule is typically full, and this is how I prefer it. I typically start my day by entering a list of my tasks into my to-do list with deadlines for each one. I also typically order them by priority. This way, I can make sure nothing slips my mind.”
(Emese Szabó)