Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington scientist named the 2023 illuminaTM Emerging Researcher
Dr Abigail Sharrock from the University’s School of Biological Sciences received the award for her work in evolving and engineering enzymes, with significant applications in cancer therapy.
illumina™, an international biotechnology company, developed the award to recognise and acknowledge an emerging researcher who uses molecular biology tools in New Zealand. It was presented to Dr Sharrock as part of Queenstown Research Week, Aotearoa’s biggest annual scientific gathering.
Dr Sharrock says she’s extremely grateful to be recognised for her work.
“I am very humbled and proud to have been selected as the recipient of this award. The support and recognition truly validate my hard work, motivating me to further advance my research and explore the frontiers of knowledge in biotechnology.
“I'm thankful for the incredible mentors, colleagues, and supporters who have been part of my research journey so far.”
Dr Sharrock says her work can be separated into two main areas: developing enzymes that allow targeting of malignant cells, and developing complementary enzymes that protect therapeutic cells.
“Enzymes are essentially tiny biological nano-machines that can be encoded by genes, which allows a researcher to control which cells produce them.
“A lot of medication that is effective against cancer cells is also very damaging to immune cells that might otherwise boost anti-cancer therapies. My work mimics natural evolution to develop enzymes that will make cancer cells more sensitive to certain drugs, and other enzymes that will protect immune cells from the same drugs.”
She says this work also means medications could be more efficient, as a targeted enzyme in cancer cells allows lower drug concentrations to be used, meaning fewer off-target toxicities occur.
“Using less of a drug means that key immune cells are more likely to survive, allowing them to join the fight against cancerous cells.”
Recently, Dr Sharrock has also been able to repurpose some previously-known enzymes to protect immune cells, and discover some all-new enzymes that are even more effective in some cells.
“By pairing these approaches, we’re approaching the problem from both ends, and hopefully paving the way for some really innovative approaches in the field of biomedicine.”
Dr Sharrock is working in the Microbial Biotechnology laboratory headed by Professor David Ackerley, who describes her as an extremely talented early-career researcher.
“Abby’s work has been recognised by the top echelon of scientific journals, for example, she recently published some work from her PhD in the elite journal Nature Methods. She is in a really exciting research space, and I think we can look forward to hearing more about her future breakthroughs.”