Penny Dalla

“I’m trying to define a new pathway in which multi-drug resistance occurs in cancer cells, using high-resolution microscopy,” says Penny Dalla, a master's by research student at UTS: Pharmacy.

“If we can define exactly how a cell changes from being drug sensitive to being multi-drug resistant, then we might be able to find a target to stop the resistance from occurring.”

The research gives Penny the opportunity to work collaboratively across the UTS campus, engaging with equipment, facilities and academics in a range of faculties.

“In particular, I have access to some of the microscopes in the ithree [research centre], including the DeltaVision OMX super resolution microscope, which is key to my work,” she says.

Penny’s research is part of a larger body of work being led by her supervisor, Professor Mary Bebawy. Professor Bebawy’s research group is now leading the world in microparticle research in relation to multidrug resistance in cancers.

“I chose to study at UTS because this is where Mary is. I’m able to work on something much greater than myself, which has the potential to help millions of people [living with cancer] around the world”.