When Dr Abeid moved to Australia in 2016 she was already a doctor. Having graduated from medical school in Egypt in 2012 Dr Abeid was a practicing GP and had begun a residency as a pathologist when she made the move to Australia with her husband.
Soon after moving to Australia, Donia welcomed her first child into the world. ‘And that changed everything,’ said Donia.
‘A passion for academia and laboratory sciences that I had harboured since my undergraduate degree in Egypt was re-awakened.’
‘I searched for degrees that would allow me to proceed with medical research as a career while being able to use my deep clinical knowledge and understanding of basic physiology, pathology and course of disease.’
Dr Abeid’s search for a degree to complement her existing qualifications and experiences resulted in her beginning La Trobe University’s Master of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics in 2019 with an Excellence Scholarship merited on the achievement of her previous degrees.
Balancing life as a new mother with a young child while studying for a Master’s Degree wasn’t always easy. Neither was the career shift from core disease treatment to medical research at the molecular level. When asked what sustained her, Dr Abeid credits her family and course leaders including Dr Fung Lay and Dr Kaye Truscott, who ‘patiently answered every question and explained every assignment to perfect clarification.’
Dr Abeid recently completed the research component of her Master’s Degree in the lab of LIMS Director, Professor Patrick Humbert. ‘Benefiting from the vast experience of Professor Humbert in cell polarity and tumorigenesis allowed me to execute a hematology related project about haematopoietic regulators, terminal differentiation, and enucleation of red blood cells (RBCs). The understanding of the nuclear loss of RBCs is a preliminary step to producing a transfusion product that can be donated from a patient to themselves.’
Donia’s hard work and dedication has not gone unrecognised. In 2021 she received the Golden Key International Honour Society membership and the Provost’s Commendation from the College of SHE. The accolades continue through to this year; in 2022 Donia has received La Trobe’s Silver Career Ready Advantage Award and was invited to become a member of the Student Excellence Academy.
Dr Abeid’s passion and dedication is evident the moment you meet her. According to Donia ‘passion gives energy and power to surpass obstacles. I never accept no for an answer. My driving goal is to make breakthroughs that change people’s quality of life – whether that happens during my career or in the next generation.’
The next step towards that goal sees Dr Abeid searching for a PhD position covering research projects that connect molecular biology skills to clinical application – and it is hard to imagine anyone better suited to such a role.
