Russian Elena combines master's degree in Molecular Life Sciences with an internship at Enzyre

She has been living in Nijmegen since 2022 to finish a two years studying and working project. Since February 2024 she has been working fulltime for Enzyre, hoping to finish her Master Molecular Life Sciences this summer. After that, Krivosheeva hopes to build up a nice career and life in The Netherlands. Elena Krivosheeva (24) finished a Bachelor Medical Physics at Peter the Great Polytechnic University in St. Petersburg, a multi-disciplinary study. She always wanted to contribute to the medical field but not per se as a doctor: ‘In Russia it is quite hard to become a doctor. It takes a lot of time, and the effort is not always paid back. I thus have never considered this profession.’ 

The company Enzyre currently works on the development of a portable point-of-care device, the EnzyPad, which hemophilia patients can use at home. Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly. Krivosheeva explains: ‘Those people therefore must be really cautious not to get injured or hit. Our device measures certain enzymes of coagulation in blood. A doctor can then analyze the data, even remotely, and advice the right treatment. The main thing the device does is carrying out special tests. A patient doesn’t require anything else, and the device is quite simple to use. Normally those patients must visit hospitals regularly. This may be time consuming and even dangerous. The EnzyPad makes blood clotting tests fast and can be easily used at home.’

‘Thereby, doing research is fun! In Saint Petersburg I worked as a lab technician in the Laboratory of Molecular Oncology Diagnostics. Here I could contribute at solving the huge problem of cancer. The people working there were also young, so we had fun times at work as well. The lab in Saint Petersburg is one of the biggest in Russia, so I had the feeling we had influence and booked significant results as well.’

The company Enzyre currently works on the development of a portable point-of-care device, the EnzyPad, which hemophilia patients can use at home. Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly. Krivosheeva explains: ‘Those people therefore must be really cautious not to get injured or hit. Our device measures certain enzymes of coagulation in blood. A doctor can then analyze the data, even remotely, and advice the right treatment. The main thing the device does is carrying out special tests. A patient doesn’t require anything else, and the device is quite simple to use. Normally those patients must visit hospitals regularly. This may be time consuming and even dangerous. The EnzyPad makes blood clotting tests fast and can be easily used at home.’

 ‘The research I’m doing at Enzyre has to do with identification of synthetic substrates to certain enzymes present in human blood. The discovery of such substrates will allow their implementation on the Enzyre’s product and therefore expand the panel of tests for the diagnostics.’

‘The Dutch school system is a bit complicated for me, but what I noticed is that people are almost shocked that there is a HBO Master program in this area. However, I find an HBO Master advantageous because you can develop both science skills and project management skills. Those are the things you really need in your working life.’

Krivosheeva is hoping to stay in The Netherlands and build up her life here. ‘This year I will graduate and hopefully can find a job. This will possibly be for Enzyre, but that also depends on the company’s plans. Their focus may shift more to the development of the final product than research which I am involved in. Whatever happens, I want to find a job in the medical field or diagnostics.’ 

The Russian researcher feels at home at the Enzyre company and Nijmegen has stolen her heart. ‘I like Enzyre as it is not too big, and I know all my colleagues in person. And I like Nijmegen. The city has big international community, I have friends from Japan, India, Brazil, and several European countries.’

 

Author: Joep Peters
Photo: Linda Verweij
Source: Tech Gelderland