UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 18 | November 15, 2001

A PhD in breakthroughs

Promising young researcher fled war-weary Iran to pursue passion for lab work in a peaceful country

It's taken about four years but Lucy Marzban is finally getting used to Vancouver rain.

"I couldn't believe it when I came here -- I've never seen so much rain," says the Iranian-born graduate who will receive a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences during Fall Congregation this month.

She originally wanted to be a physician and was encouraged by her grandfather, a surgeon. She began working toward a medical degree in 1989 during Iran's eight-year war with Iraq.

Night bombing disrupted studies and sleep, and with hospital staff dispatched to the country's borders to treat casualties, many students volunteered for hospital shifts while attending university.

Marzban obtained the equivalent of a medical degree in laboratory medicine from Tehran University in 1994 with the second-highest mark in the class. After graduation, she worked as a research assistant at the Diabetes Research Centre affiliated with the university and supervised a medical laboratory at the Health and Therapeutic Centre at Iran University.

"I liked medicine but I loved the bench work," she says of her studies.

She decided to pursue medical laboratory science in an English-speaking country and says she chose Canada for its reputation as a peaceful and hospitable country. Marzban arrived alone in Vancouver in May 1997 not knowing a single person in the country.

Her search for a doctoral supervisor began late in the academic year and it began to look as though she might have to return to Iran when she was introduced to Prof. John McNeill of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

McNeill explores how vanadium, a naturally occurring element used to strengthen steel, can be used as a therapeutic agent to treat diabetes. Marzban had studied the mechanisms of gestational diabetes for her medical degree.

"I was so lucky to work with Dr. McNeill -- everything started to happen all of a sudden," she says.

She made a breakthrough discovery while at the lab.

Researchers had been focusing on muscle cells to test some aspects of vanadium's therapeutic properties, but were frustrated at the lack of response. Marzban suggested using diabetic liver cells. The approach worked and changed the whole research picture, according to McNeill.

Now working as a post-doctoral student in Pathology Asst. Prof. Bruce Verchere's lab, Marzban studies diabetes in children.

She relaxes by playing the piano at Thunderbird Residence lounge when she can and swimming at UBC's Aquatic Centre.

An enthusiastic skier who learned on the slopes of the Aborz Mountains in northern Iran, she is pleased that her move to Vancouver gives her access to some excellent skiing.

After her postdoctoral work Marzban hopes to pursue an academic career -- maybe even here in Vancouver now that she's finally used to the rain.

See also

War crimes prosecutor receives degree Nov. 22

Stellar student in the swim of things

The schedule of ceremonies for the Fall Congregation can be found on the UBC Ceremonies & Events Web site at http://www.external-affairs.ubc.ca/ceremonies/.