“Seven years ago, I arrived in Amsterdam on a flight from the south of China to embark on a PhD project about anti-cancer drugs and the blood-brain barrier. It was November and the weather was very cold. I was glad that I was not the only one on that plane. I was joined by several other PhD students, who would become my roommates and colleagues at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. All the others in my lab were wonderful, they’ve helped me a lot. My academic supervisors Jos Beijnen and Alfred Schinkel really had my back. I had never worked with mice before, and I will never forget what the caretakers told me when I visited the animal facility for the first time: happy mice will generate better results. I studied the role of transporter genes in cells and in what we call knock-out mice, in terms of how targeted anti-cancer drugs work in various different organs in the body. The blood-brain barrier seems like the Great Wall of China. It was not very difficult for me to get used to the Dutch climate and culture. I really enjoyed my life here.”
Promotors
Prof. dr. J.H. Beijnen & dr. A.H. Schinkel