Doc Lazarus goes for gold
Richards Bay lass capped with PhD and heading off to America.
TREKKING around the world in the name of science, Brackenham’s Geraldine Lazarus (30) has earned her PhD in Biochemistry and is expected to jet off to America next month.
Completing her doctorate in ‘design and synthesis of gold nanoparticles and its interaction with mammalian cells in culture’, Geraldine was capped at the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) this month.
Presenting her work at the 18th annual meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy in New Orleans next month, Geraldine also recently spent a year in the Applied Physics Department of the University of Granada in Spain as part of an Erasmus Mundus Fellowship.
She also presented her research in September 2013 at the 7th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering in Beijing, China.
Previously selected to participate in an European Union (EU) research scholarship involving 21 top research institutions in 12 countries, and also scooping the prestigious Abe Bailey Bursary, joining 18 students from universities countrywide, Geraldine is well on her way to the top.
Completing her PhD following an interest in research relating to non-viral gene delivery and tissue culture, Geraldine has enjoyed developing new techniques and methods of exploring the design of gold nanoparticles at UKZN.
The study has been published in an international journal and was the first study dealing with the use of gold nanoparticles in the non-viral gene delivery laboratory.
Nanotherapeutics is an important and challenging area of research for the treatment of a variety of diseases.
Gold nanoparticles, as delivery vehicles, have shown great promise in diagnostics, theranostics and cancer treatment.
In her spare time, Geraldine enjoys painting, playing chess, her guitar and keeping herself busy with outdoor activities.
Taking heed from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words, ‘Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail’, the former John Ross College pupil continues to leave trails across continents.
