Profile

I was born in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan 🇦🇿. I successfully completed my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Azerbaijan. Since October 2019, I have been living in Oxford, one of my favourite cities, to do my DPhil.

I enjoy doing laboratory experiments 🧬🧪and analysing the results 📈📊📉. I often spend more time looking at cells under the microscope 🔬, which is very interesting. Outside of work, I love exploring Oxford, playing volleyball ⚽️ and bowling 🎳, reading books📚, walking 👭👫, spending time with my family 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦👩‍👩‍👧‍👧 and friends 🙍‍♀️🙍‍♂️🙎🏻‍♀️.

Awards 🥇🏆🏅:

• First place in the “Winter School of Young Biologists – 2019“, Azerbaijan, 27.02. – 01.03.2019.
• “Honorary degree” – Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, 10.11.2017.
• “The best student of the year” – Baku State University, the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan Republic, 2015/2014/2013.

Here, I was awarded an ‘Honorary Degree’ by academician Akif Alizadeh, President of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, in 2017.

Learning about different cultures, amazing places around the world 🌏 is always great fun for me. More recently, my friends and I started a new project, called ‘We and Countries’, with the aim of helping people for getting more information about the countries through the eye of youth. During our journey, we share the fantastic places, interesting cultures around the world. You can find our page on We & Countries.

I am investigating the mechanisms of cell differentiation in colorectal cancer at Prof. Walter Bodmer’s lab. Like most cancers, colorectal cancer displays the deregulation of cell differentiation. The main aims of my project are to identify new potential factors that trigger cell differentiation and explore which primary defects – mutations or methylation – affect cell differentiation in colorectal cancer. Specifically, I am interested in Goblet cell differentiation.

Goblet cells are one of the differentiated cell types within the intestinal epithelium and their main function is the synthesis and secretion of the MUC2 mucin. MUC2 is the most abundant mucin in the intestine and acts as a major structural component of the protective mucus layer. Colorectal cancers can be categorised as mucinous with abundant MUC2 secretion and non-mucinous with reduced MUC2 secretion.

Therefore, a detailed understanding of the mechanisms involved in Goblet cell differentiation in normal colon and CRC is essential. Improved understanding of cell differentiation will contribute to the treatment of mucinous and non-mucinous carcinoma. My main purpose is to make a positive contribution to cancer treatment.

Here you can see the morphology of Goblet cells under the microscope in the colorectal cancer cell line. MUC2 and TFF3 are the main Goblet cell markers in normal colon. In order to identify the shape and size of Goblet cells, we used EpCAM, a cell surface protein. As it is shown, they are bigger than other cells, and they have a Goblet or cup-like appearance. In addition, not all cells in culture are able to make Goblet cells.

I usually wake up at 7 in the morning ⏰ and do sports🏃‍♀️🤸‍♂️. After breakfast 🧀🍩☕️🥯, I get ready and go to the laboratory by walking🚶‍♀️. In the lab, firstly, I look at my daily schedule 🗓 and try to follow it as much as possible. In addition, I check emails 💻📩 and daily news 📰.

Experiments usually take a long time, and if there is work to be done under the microscope 🔬, it takes even longer. The experiments are mainly carried out in cell culture to study the effect of various factors on the activity of cancer cells. After the experiments, I read research articles. If there is no daily experiment, then I re-analyse the results of previous research📝📈📊and try to read more recent papers 📑.

It’s lunchtime at 1 p.m 🍜🍝. During lunch we always have interesting discussions with members of the laboratory and other friends. Then, again experiments and work activities continue.

I usually finish my work at 6 o’clock in the evening⌚️. Then I go home and make dinner 🥗🥘. After dinner, I talk to my family 📞📱and make plans for the next day ✍️📅. If I’m going to do a new experiment tomorrow, I’m researching different protocols on the Internet 💻. I have a rest after 10 o’clock🧘‍♀️. If I don’t have important work, I listen to audio books 🎧 and music 🎼.

I go to volleyball classes on weekends ⛹️‍♀️. I love walking outdoors 👭 and exploring Oxford with my friends 👬👭👫.

Here are some pictures of our laboratory Christmas decorations🎄🎊🎉🎄🎊 at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in 2019.

A cancer immunotherapy tree which was also accompanied by a tree decorated as a Goblet cell;

Goblet cells: secretary cells were cleverly represented by baubles, while pipettes were used to show the secreted mucin network.

A cancer immunotherapy tree🎄🎄: The tree represents a cancer cell and white baubles indicate T cells. The antibody binds to T cells with its one arm and cancer cells with a second arm. Then, T cells are activated and kill cancer cells.