COVID-19 was spreading rapidly around the globe, leaving me stuck at home with little else to do other than occasionally contacting my friends. It seemed my plan to work at Duke Kunshan University’s One Health Research Laboratory was impossible.
Then, Cherry texted me,
“Let’s pitch a research proposal to the Jiangsu Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program!”
“How?”
I wondered.
Initially, we had planned a proposal that would require access to a tissue culture laboratory, but access to such a facility was uncertain as our university was still in its infancy infrastructurally.
“Duke Kunshan University doesn’t have a tissue culture lab,”
I said.
“Let’s just try putting a proposal together,”
she replied.
Located in four completely different places—Cherry, Jiani, Xinyue, and I— met online frequently to discuss the proposal with the help of Zoom. We called ourselves the BioInnovators— a group of rising female scientists passionate about helping people live healthier lives through biology. After brainstorming various research ideas, we eventually found the intersection point between our individual research interests— since ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in women worldwide, we decided to contribute our efforts towards finding a method for preventing it.
Within a week, Duke Kunshan University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center graciously accepted our proposal, recommending our proposal at the national level and granting us 20,000 RMB in funding. Encouraged by the results, we applied for further research funding from Duke Kunshan University’s Health Humanities Lab. Fortunately, we were granted some funds for both research and to produce a documentary about our work.
Finally, last autumn, we began our research with the extraction of potential compounds from spirulina in a chemistry lab at Duke Kunshan University.
It was like a dream. I never imagined that the pandemic would contribute to the formation of the BioInnovators, and lifelong friendships developed through collaboration with my innovative and capable teammates. Instead of waiting for opportunities to come our way, we created an opportunity and took hold of it. Ultimately, our goal is to develop a viable prevention method and raise awareness for ovarian cancer. We will continue to work relentlessly in the laboratory, confident that the skills learned at Duke Kunshan University will help us to create a ripple effect in every woman’s life. As our motto goes: “Your health is our wealth.”
Section Editor: Samantha Tsang
Section: Science & Technology
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