A few years ago, I would have baulked at the idea of trading the sunny beaches of Sydney for the coldscape of Boston. Smuggly. Probably with a flat white in hand because, let’s be honest, the coffee in Sydney is on point (despite what Melbourne readers might have you believe). But life, as it turned out, had other things in mind.
It began during my optometry school days at UNSW Sydney. I got a taste for research thanks to Associate Professor Michele Madigan during a summer vacation research scholarship in my penultimate year. While my friends were hitting the beach, I found myself dissecting eyeballs and culturing cells – and loving every minute of it. There’s something strangely satisfying about understanding how things work at such a fundamental cellular level. After graduating, I worked as an optometrist for a couple of years, seeing countless patients with age-related eye diseases like cataract and age-related macular degeneration. Many weren’t improving with current therapies, and it spurred me to consider research as a way to develop novel therapeutics for these conditions.
So, I made a big decision. I traded my optometry uniform for a lab coat. I enrolled in a PhD at the University of Sydney with Professor Frank Lovicu, focusing on cataract and growth factor signalling – essentially, cell-to-cell communication, like text messages between cells, but with much higher stakes. When these messages go awry, it leads to pathologies, involving processes such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and wound healing. The transition from clinical optometry to the world of cell and molecular biology was a huge challenge. I suddenly found myself in a lab with nitrile gloves on my hands, trying to figure out how to handle antibodies and perform techniques like western blotting, immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy, and qPCR. But I had a great, supportive supervisor and lab mates who made all the difference.
In 2018, during my PhD candidature, a three-month research stint at Schepens Eye Research Institute of Harvard Medical School, cropped up in the lab of the late Professor James Zieske’s. There, I delved deeper into growth factor signalling, but this time in the context of corneal scarring. Here, I met Associate Professor Magali Saint-Geniez, who would later become my postdoc supervisor. She offered me a position to work on macular degeneration, still focusing on EMT but with an emphasis on metabolism and mitochondria driving these processes. I didn’t hesitate to accept.
So after completing my PhD, I packed my bags and headed back to Harvard in 2019, where I spent my postdoc years exploring the intricate ways in which metabolism influences retinal diseases. The research was challenging, the winters were brutal but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. The friendships during this time – fellow researchers who shared late nights, early mornings, and the excitement of discovery – became some of the most important relationships in my life.
But soon enough I began to yearn for the flat whites and sandy flats. After almost five years of navigating the imperial system and ordering cold brews at Dunkin’ Donuts, I returned to Sydney in 2023. I was fortunate to be offered a position as a Scientia Senior Lecturer at UNSW. When I first landed, the sun was shining, the air was warm, and the coffee was aromatic. Coming home felt like slipping into a pair of jeans that fit just right, comfortable, familiar, and perfectly broken in. But I wasn’t the same person who had left. I had a suitcase full of new ideas.
Now, at UNSW, I’ve come back full circle to where it all began, building on everything I learned at Harvard. My lab focuses on developing novel metabolic targeting drugs to treat macular degeneration and exploring innovative drug delivery options. We’re continuing to push the boundaries of what we know about retinal diseases, always looking for new ways to help the patients who inspired this journey in the first place.
So here’s my advice: If you ever get the chance to do something bold – like moving across the world, shovelling snow, and trying to figure out if 32°F is warm or cold – do it. Jump in with both feet. The world is big, and it’s full of surprises. And trust me, the adventure is worth it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Name: Dr Daisy Shu
Qualifications: BOptom (First Class Hons), BSci, PhD, FAAO
Affiliations: UNSW
Location: Sydney
Years in industry: 12
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