When Sarah Nano decided to pursue a PhD and continue her studies in Bioengineering, she never expected to be not only traveling halfway across the USA to the University of Notre Dame to work with Professor Glen Niebur, but also across the Atlantic Ocean to the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI, Galway) to work with Professor Laoise McNamara. Sarah has been interested in Bioengineering for many years and was drawn to it due to its interdisciplinary nature; “my biggest draw to Bioengineering was that it’s interdisciplinary. I’ve always been someone who likes to have a hand in different types of things. [...] There are people who need to be experts but there are also people who need to tie things together and I feel like we don’t focus too much on connecting different disciplines and creating a bridge between them”.
Sarah grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended Northeastern University in Boston where she studied Bioengineering and worked closely with Professor Sandra Shefelbine in her lab. It was Prof. Shefelbine who first brought the PhD programme at Notre Dame to Sarah’s attention. “I never really thought about moving to the Midwest,” says Sarah. “Notre Dame was not on my radar too much until [Sandra] connected me with [Prof. Niebur]”. Professor Niebur was looking for a graduate student to conduct research in his lab and Sarah seemed to be the perfect candidate. So she contacted him, they had a meeting, and the next thing Sarah knew, she had applied and gotten into the PhD programme.
One of the unique components of the programme is the opportunity Sarah has to conduct research at Notre Dame as well as NUI, Galway. While in Galway, she has been working closely with Prof. McNamara; someone who is very familiar with Notre Dame due to the collaboration she has established with Prof. Niebur. According to Glen Neibur, Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Notre Dame, the collaboration began over 10 years from his sabbatical visit to NUI Galway. "Since then we have had several collaborative projects related to the interactions of mechanical forces and biology in bone that led us to this vexing problem of cancer metastasis. We were fortunate to get funding for our project from the Naughton Family Foundation - who have been extremely supportive of Notre Dame engineering research. Beyond supporting the important science, they have given Sarah the opportunity to work with Laoise and the NUIG Mechanobiology Lab which will be a great benefit to her Ph.D. studies and to her future career."
“Everything kind of fell into place”
This Galway component was a major factor in why Sarah chose the PhD programme at Notre Dame. Hearing not only about Prof. Niebur’s research in bioengineering with a focus on bone, but also Prof. McNamara’s cancer metastasis work at NUI, Galway sealed the deal; “everything kind of fell into place,” says Sarah. She quickly found herself comparing the PhD programme at Notre Dame to every other option and felt there was nowhere that came close because of the ability to study and conduct research in the U.S. and abroad. It was a match well made according to Prof. McNamara, who described Sarah as "the perfect candidate for the collaboration" citing Sarah's scientific aptitude, enthusiasm and previous research experience as an undergraduate; "She hit the ground running when she arrived in Galway in January, and has already completed her first study with some very exciting results. I was delighted that Sarah was recently awarded an Early Career Researcher award at the 27th Annual Biomedical Engineering in Ireland conference, which is excellent recognition of her early achievements in her PhD".
Sarah’s current PhD research project, funded by a Naughton Fellowship, focuses on cancer found in bone. “We are looking to study breast cancer metastasis in bone. It’s a big field of research because bone metastases are so hard to treat and usually when breast cancer advances to the stage of affecting the bone not only is it very painful, but it’s usually very fatal at that point. So my specific research in that bigger discipline is trying to create 3D tissue-engineered models to be able to study breast cancer metastasis in bone,” says Sarah. She pointed out that a 3D model will be a major stepping point in the way scientists will be able to study the ways cancer cells react to different types of medicine due to the way they react in a 3D model consisting of bone-like tissue engineered models. Sarah is “also looking into a drug which has shown some promise which targets a specific protein access that Professor Laurie Littlepage’s lab at Notre Dame has been working on. So I have been collaborating not only with Prof. Niebur and Prof. McNamara, but also with Prof. Littlepage”.
"I feel like I’ve really learned a lot and I can definitely take what I learned here back to Notre Dame and I feel like I can spread that knowledge. It’s been really amazing.”
Now that she has spent half a semester at Notre Dame and half a semester in Galway, Sarah has seen the benefits of a collaborative PhD programme which has proved to be an invaluable asset; “I feel extremely lucky that I am working with Prof. Niebur, Prof. McNamara, and Prof. Littlepage, because seeing the collaboration of these three researchers who have their own expertises and seeing not only the way that they interact with me and all of the guidance they have provided to me, but even just witnessing them talk to each other in meetings has been really beneficial and inspiring”.
During her time in Galway, Sarah found the level of support she received from researchers and other PhD students extremely beneficial to her at this point in her PhD journey. “I’m so, so thankful I came, not just because I’ve explored Ireland and it’s an amazing community and I have learned even just from the different ways that Irish PhD students approach their work versus American PhD students, but also the expertise in Prof. McNamara’s lab,” says Sarah - “I feel like I’ve really learned a lot and I can definitely take what I learned here back to Notre Dame and I feel like I can spread that knowledge. It’s been really amazing”.
The benefits of this knowledge exchange and inter-institutional partnership are not only evident in Sarah's PhD but have also encouraged further collaboration between NUI Galway and Notre Dame.
Lisa Caulfield, the Director of the Notre Dame's Global Centre at Kylemore Abbey, remarks: "Sarah's work in Ireland with Professor McNamara's lab is a perfect example of graduate research collaboration directed by peers in the profession. Both Glen's and Laoise's generosity and guidance have provided Sarah with this international opportunity, laying the groundwork for a new initiative entitled 'Biseach' - the Irish for healing - where we actively foster further collaborative opportunities with scientists and engineers between the two institutions; the Global Centre at Kylemore choreographs undergraduate, faculty and graduate research in the hope of coming together to solve specific Irish cancers and drawing on one another's strengths and expertise in the area."
So what’s next for Sarah? Her PhD programme is projected to last 5-6 years with at least one more semester back at NUI, Galway and possibly more trips on a need-basis depending on what Prof. McNamara might need her for; “the path isn’t laid out yet”. To Sarah, when she first heard 5-6 years for the programme, it seemed daunting. However, it is already flying by; “I’m already almost done with my first year - it’s gone by so fast!” says Sarah. Her time in Galway has allowed her to see what her PhD research project might look like when she is done with classes back at Notre Dame, and she can’t wait to get started.
"Be unapologetic."
Sarah’s aspirations and advice for girls who want to go into STEM:
“Be unapologetic about it. [...] Do it for yourself and do it because you’re interested in the subject”. A lot of girls drop out of science and math in High School and even younger because they feel like they don’t belong there. “I was kind of driven to do the opposite,” says Sarah. “One of the reasons I knew I wanted to be an engineer and why I never felt intimidated by that is I got really lucky that I always had really amazing female math teachers. Most of my math teachers growing up were women”. For Sarah, this has fed into her aspirations for her future; “I really want to be a professor,” she says. “It’s that aspect out of everything that I’m most excited about; I love research, I care about research, I always want to do research, but I think that the driving passion is working with people and hopefully inspiring people [and young girls].”
Rapid Fire Round with Sarah:
Favourite book: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Favourite Irish book:Normal People by Sally Rooney
Favourite pub in Galway: The Front Door
Favourite Restaurant in Galway: Cava Bodega
Favourite walk in Galway: Salthill Prom
Favourite Place Visited outside of Galway: Connemara (and Kylemore!)
What would you tell someone who’s never been to Galway: Wander around with no plan and stumble along things and places you really like!