Stamatis Papathanasiou, Group Leader at The Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), in Mainz, Germany is the deserving 2024 recipient of the EACR-Mark Foundation-Pezcoller Foundation Rising Star Award 2024. This award is open to EACR members with an unfunded Score ‘A’ cancer-related project from the previous year’s ERC Starting Grant calls. We were delighted to speak with him recently about his experience of being a part of the cancer research community thus far in his career. He shares some invaluable advice for early career researchers, and what important qualities he looks for in new recruits to his lab.
What is your current research about?
We are trying to better understand what happens when chromosomes mis-segregate in mitosis and form abnormal nuclear structures, like micronuclei. Such structures have been associated with cancer for a long time but we just started realising their hallmark role in genomic instability and tumorigenesis. We recently became particularly excited about the potential effects of such structures on chromatin state and function. There are plenty of unknowns about micronuclei and their functional consequences. We are fascinated with the new biology that is yet to be discovered in that field and hopefully will pave the way towards new ideas of clinical value in the fight against cancer.
What’s your favourite part of each working day?
In the mornings when I go by the lab and have a “morning coffee” chat with my people before I do anything else. The best thing about our work is exactly that, the chance we get to interact with beautiful and brilliant people, at different career stages, from different backgrounds but all connected by similar passions.
When did you know you wanted to be a scientist and was your career path planned out in any way?
From very early I was attracted by science, physics and math at the beginning. I had an amazing biology teacher later in high school that introduced us to basic concepts of molecular biology, in the most inspiring way. By connecting the class with recent accomplishments of renowned Greek scientists, like Fotis Kafatos at EMBL back then. So the message was that these fascinating discoveries happen right now and very close, even in the local universities. I knew I had to be part of that.
How important do you think networking is in science?
Networking is a necessary element. Science is all about communicating your work with others. Getting feedback from peers, being exposed to different perspectives, are fundamental to move your science forward. Networking might ultimately lead to synergies with other colleagues from diverse areas of expertise. And honestly that makes what we are doing really fun.
“The best advice I had was the simplest one: To follow the path that I truly believe in and I am passionate about”
What has been the biggest challenge in your career so far and how did you overcome it?
In Greece, it is obligatory to serve in the army for almost a year. I joined the army close to the end of my PhD, after completing the experiments of what I thought would make a cool first draft. But then I had to write the manuscript… while serving in the army. I still remember the moment I first submitted my paper in Nature Medicine and a fellow soldier was yelling at me because I was a few minutes late releasing him from the guard post. It was actually fun, retrospectively, and I am very proud of this work.
What qualities do you look for when you’re hiring new scientists to your lab?
I am looking for people that would fit well in our lab, mainly personality wise. I am very lucky to have beautiful people in the lab and I am trying to maintain this environment. Of course, I also need to be intellectually intrigued so I guess the way of thinking and motivation are important for me as well.
What’s the best piece of career advice you were ever given?
The best advice I had was the simplest one. To follow the path that I truly believe in and I am passionate about, not necessarily the one that makes sense. I was given the opposite advice as well, but for me it was a no brainer.
What advice would you offer an early career scientist who wants to progress to your level?
I believe the nature of our work is driven heavily by our personal motivation and our passion. We need to find ways to constantly keep those at a high level, especially when we are challenged in any way, and there are many ways! For me, that was my personal life and my family. I find having a healthy side outside the lab is elemental to clear your mind, find solutions, and maintain your perspective.
