Graduate students from multiple disciplines across campus competed last Wednesday in the Three Minute Thesis competition for a prize of $1,000. The competition challenged students to express their research concisely, in everyday language.
Out of the many excellent presentations, Tayebeh Anajafi Marzijarani, a fourth-year doctoral student in pharmaceutical sciences presenting her research on drug delivery for pancreatic cancer, dazzled to emerge as the champion. 
“I feel good about the accomplishment,” Anajafi Marzijarani said with a laugh. “For me it’s like an encouragement to work harder, to do better.”
Anajafi Marzijarani has a history of doing well, and first developed her interest in medical research while earning her master’s in biotechnology in Tehran, Iran’s capital city.
“I worked in a protein chemistry lab, which is when I got interested in working on human health, on cancer especially,” Anajafi Marzijarani said.
Anajafi Marzijarani came to the U.S. for her doctorate because of the educational opportunities.
“Also, I came here because NDSU has a diverse community and I thought I could fit nicely here,” Anajafi Marzijarani said.
She works in professor Sanku Mallik’s lab, and focuses on the direct delivery of chemotherapy drugs for pancreatic and prostate cancer.
“Our main goal is to reduce the side effects of chemotherapeutic agents, and to develop more effective therapy for cancer patients in general, since the formulation we are working on can be manipulated for other cancers as well,” Anajafi Marzijarani said. “If we can figure out a way to deliver drugs directly to the tumors instead of dispersing them throughout the body, we can reduce the negative effects of the treatments, especially since the drugs are so toxic to cells other than the ones being targeted.”
Because of the many negative side effects of cancer treatments, researchers in institutions around the world are interested in finding better ways of delivering treatments in a targeted manner.
“It’s exciting and inspiring to be a part of research like this, because a discovery could positively impact so many lives, and significantly increase patients’ quality of life while going through treatment,” Anajafi Marzijarani said.
Anajafi Marzijarani will present her research later this spring at the Western Association of Graduate Schools’ regional competition in Seattle.
“I hope to do well in the competition when I represent NDSU,” Anajafi Marzijarani said.