Abeer Ansary Mohamed Elsharnoby

I am writing this report to describe my exciting experience in Germany during my short-term research stay at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB)– Center for Clinical Research (ZKF), Department of Molecular Gastroenterological Oncology (MGO). Great thanks to the kind support of Professor Mahfouz Kassem Scholarship by the DAAD-Stiftung which gave me such chance.

I am a Ph.D. student scholar at Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (EJUST), and I heard about this scholarship from my co-supervisor, Prof. Samir Elmashtoly who sent the link for scholarship to all postgraduate students at E-JUST to apply for it. At the beginning, with the help of Prof. Samir, I contacted Prof. Dr. Med. Stephan Hahn, at MGO department, ZKF, RUB and based on the applied proposal, he gave me acceptance to conduct a part of my research project at his Lab under his supervision.

Accordingly, I submitted my application through the DAAD portal. I can’t explain how much I was honored and blessed when I received the letter of award informing me that I was granted Professor Mahfouz Kassem Scholarship by the DAAD-Stiftung.

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Impressions of winter in Bochum

Firstly, I wanted to provide a hint about my research project entitled "Assessment of the Anticancer Potential of Some Photosensitizers." The aim of this research project is to evaluate the anticancer potential of one or more newly formulated photosensitizers belonging to porphyrin or porphyrins-based macrocyclic structures against breast cancer and to investigate the possible synergistic effect of such photosensitizers to some of the available standard chemotherapeutic agents against different types of cancers.

The importance of such research topic is that, among the recently studied cancer treatment methods, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as a promising approach in enhancing the treatment response and therapeutic outcome. Clearly, PDT has its own merits compared to the conventional treatment methods due to its minimal invasiveness, repeatability without cumulative toxicity, excellent functional and cosmetic results, reduced long-term morbidity, and improved quality of life of the patients. However, PDT has not yet gained clinical acceptance as a first-line oncological intervention due to certain limitations including lack of an ideal photosensitizer (PS), challenges in formulating PS, choosing the right light dosimetry for a complete and effective treatment, difficulties in planning the treatment and monitoring the treatment response.

More substantially, PDT is only being used in the treatment of superficial and flat lesions, where the fundamental problem lies in the inability of PDT to treat solid or deep-seated tumors. Based on the above-mentioned challenges associated with PDT, this provides the motivation to investigate newly formulated compounds of porphyrin-based macrocyclic class of PS either alone or in combination with other treatment modalities to improve therapeutic outcome and prognosis of different types of cancer.

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City trips within Germany

In October 2023, I arrived in Bochum and joined the MGO department as a guest researcher. After that, Prof. Stephan Hahn took me to the lab of Dr. Johannes Karges, Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, RUB, where I was able to perform the part of photochemical characterizations and light irradiation to complete my experiment. The nature of my research work in Germany was divided into two parts; one part was performed in Prof. Stephan’s lab and the other one was in Dr. Johannes Lab. During my research stay, I participated in the periodical group physical meetings. Such meetings provided me the chance to present the outcome of each new experiment I performed in my research project in the lab and subsequently got technical and scientific comments from my supervisors as well as my colleagues to optimize my research outcomes, understand the tips and tricks for each experiment and avoid any technical mistakes next times.

In addition, it provided me with the opportunities to get in contact with different research topics, where during these meetings, every student presented the progress of their research work, and we exchanged ideas and comments together. Besides such meetings, there was a journal club meeting which was held weekly, where two students (same colleagues mentioned above, but I kept contact with them even after return through emails and personal contacting, they were from different countries including Germany, China, and Jordan) presented seminars of recent research articles related to their research projects.

Because my research topic was different from their topics, this gave me the chance to benefit from their different research backgrounds (Pathways responsible for colon and pancreatic cancers resistance against targeted therapy, Advanced cancer biology), learn new techniques (Flow cytometry), enrich my scientific knowledge, and broaden my horizons for future research work. Furthermore, working under the supervision of my host Prof. Stephan Hahn, was a pleasant experience both professionally and personally.

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A short trip to Venlo in the Netherlands

I was totally impressed by his great research experience, creative mind, and extraordinary activity in following me periodically through discussing the research results with me and providing me comments and feedback. In addition, He was so generous, kind, helpful and understanding person. I will always be grateful to him for giving me such an opportunity. I also greatly appreciated the great efforts and kind support I have obtained from Dr. Johannes and his students who offered me all the help, time, and facilities to perform the experiments.

In this context, I owe gratitude and thanks to every person who helped me during my research stay at RUB and I hope to have more cooperative works in the future. Although the research visit has ended, I am keeping in contact with my supervisor and colleagues there.

Besides the research skills and experience, I enjoyed a different and amazing culture and lifestyle. Although German people are serious, active and spend too much time with their work, they also respect weekends and formal holidays which the thing I missed in Egypt, in Egypt, we can keep working even during holidays and weekends. Due to stress factor, we are facing in Egypt either in work or personal life, we might forget to enjoy weekends and holidays. However, I didn’t notice this stress in Germany because everyone appreciates and respect the personal area either during formal holidays, weekends, or even after the working hours per day.

Accordingly, I exploited this chance to enjoy life and visit a lot of places in Germany like Essen, Koln, Dusseldorf, Herne, and Dortmund and outside Germany such as Venlo and Paris. I used to walk and do sports in my spare time. On weekends, I usually spent time exploring the beautiful and attractive places like Kemnader See and shops of Bochum like New Yorker, Kaufland, Primark and Rosmann. I was embraced by the fabulous landscapes, enjoyed different cultures and tasted several recipes. I also enjoyed the sweet and salty dishes at the Christmas Market in different cities like Bochum, Essen, and Dortmund which are also particularly stuck in my memory.

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The long awaited trip to Paris

I also was fascinated by the simple and quiet life in Bochum in general, which is truly a suitable place for students to stay, study, and enjoy. Because I arrived in October and the period was three months, I have caught part of winter there where I enjoyed the rainy weather and saw the snow covering everything, this was very astonishing for me. I also always went to Ruhr Park which was a preferred place for me to enjoy shopping and eating. Moreover, I visited the Kemnader See, where I spent a wonderful time, the view, nature, and green areas were very amazing, and I enjoyed a quiet and restful weekend there.

Furthermore, because Bochum is surrounded by the cities of (in clockwise direction) Herne, Dortmund, Witten, Hattingen, Essen, and Gelsenkirchen, it was very convenient to visit these cities. I also visited Venlo, a city in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany (about 2-hour one way from Bochum), and because I adore cheese, I found it a big chance to buy different types of cheese from there and enjoyed their tastes.

Concerning travelling outside Germany, because my visa was Schengen, I exploited this chance to travel to one of my most adorable European Union countries which is France (Paris). In Paris, I enjoyed my breakfast with Croissant and coffee, and on another day, I ate baguette and cheese. In addition, the greatest thing for me was that I visited the most famous places in Paris and discover what makes them so alluring including Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Champs Élysées, Seine River, Basilica of Sacré-Coeur, and Versailles Palace. It was a very nice and astonishing short trip for me, because I dreamed more and more to visit Paris one day and finally my dream came true to visit this city of love and light.

Finally, through this amazing stay in Germany, I gained a better understanding and deeper insights into the history, culture, and lifestyle of the country. This experience means a lot to me and prepared myself for a promising career by boosting my confidence. I am very grateful and there are no words that can express my gratitude to the family of Professor Dr. Mahfouz Kassem, the donor of the scholarship, and all that I have experienced and the friendship with research fellows and friends in Germany will be unforgettable and everlasting in my mind. I loved Bochum so much and I hope to get another chance to come again and visit this beautiful city in the future and in different weathers.