CPC Summer Research Scholarships: Q&A with Matthew Shu

Open to all undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students, successful candidates develop research skills over the eight weeks of immersion in their project, gain experience, and contribute to finding real-world solutions to chronic diseases and their related conditions.

Matthew Shu was enrolled in the double degree program consisting of a Bachelor of Science / Doctor of Medicine and was completing his first year of postgraduate medicine when he saw the advertisement for the Charles Perkins Centre Summer Research Scholarships program 2023 in a newsletter. Having spent most of undergraduate studying programming and spare time working on cardiovascular research, he thought this multi and interdisciplinary setting would be a fantastic opportunity to combine two areas he was passionate about.

With the support of his supervisors Professor Jean Yang from the Sydney Precision Data Science Centre and Professor Gemma Figtree from the Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Matthew developed his topic: Identifying immune signatures in acute coronary syndrome patients with mass cytometry analysis.

We talked to Matthew about his experience as one of the scholars of the Charles Perkins Centre Summer Research Scholarships program 2023, from the application process and devising a topic, to what he is doing now and ongoing links with the Centre.

Were you a Charles Perkins Centre member/collaborator prior to being awarded a Summer Research Scholarship?

I wasn’t previously a formal member or collaborator.

How did you go about preparing your application?

I started by scaffolding the intersection between my interests, the expertise of my supervisors and the mission of Charles Perkins Centre to improve healthcare through multidisciplinary collaboration. Tactically, this meant discussing the clinically-relevant questions we could ask of the available data, as well as considering what was the appropriate scope within the timespan of eight weeks. Aligning a question and a story made the subsequent literature review and proposal-writing smooth sailing.

Did you speak to an academic or one of your peers to help you prepare your application?

Absolutely. I think aligning your work with the broader goals of your supervisor’s lab is particularly important. There may be past work that has sparked further questions that you can be a part of answering! I also described my research questions constantly to my friends in medical school which I found to be a good test to see whether I understood what I was trying to interrogate.

Had the questions of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease and their related conditions been on your radar in any of your studies prior to applying for the Summer Research Scholarships program?

It’s an area that I’ve been interested in for a long time!

Did you have a particular interest in the Centre’s themes and mission: obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and their related conditions?

It’s an area of interest I’ve explored previously through the lens of preventive health. For so many Australians, the highest leverage areas are a change in behaviour – whether that’s diet, exercise, or sleep. The difficult part isn’t what can we do, it’s how do we convince ourselves to do it. How do we feel motivated to act on a problem that has not arisen yet. At least for now, I’ve concluded that the upstream job of prevention is a Herculean effort of cultural change and social influence. In doing so, I’ve moved my attention to the pragmatic question of – how do we diagnose early, individualise our treatment, better educate patients of their individualised risk profile and ultimately help people make more informed decisions?

How did it feel to be accepted into the program?

Spectacular. This program has given me an opportunity to play a small part in a broader noble effort to improve healthcare of Australians. It’s refreshing to be surrounded by people who try to re-write the world around them every day. There isn’t always an answer to ‘why’, but you can count on people here to seek it out. That keeps life interesting.

Tell us a bit about the logistics of starting work e.g. when you commenced, how long was your project, were you based at the Charles Perkins Centre?

I started on 22 November in 2023 and finished on 30 January 2024. Given this was over the summer break I was able to take a week off for Christmas and New Year. The program coordinators were very accommodating to allow for an eight-week window fitting around my later academic year finishing date and early semester start the following year. Due to the nature of a lot of the work being predominantly data analysis, I had the flexibility to spend time between Kolling Institute, Charles Perkins Centre and remotely. 

What was it like collaborating with academic supervisors on a brand-new research project?

The exciting nature of discovery work was exceeded only by the endless encouragement of my supervisors to dig a little deeper for the truth. As an example, when I wanted to verify some of my single-cell mass cytometry findings against SNPs with known surface marker phenotype, my supervisors quickly facilitated access to SNP data. When I ran into problems, they were incredibly supportive in providing access to the collective wisdom of themselves, their PhD students and post-docs. I honestly count myself very privileged to have met such incredible people in Professor Jean Yang and Professor Gemma Figtree who I feel comfortable to seek advice from about my research as well as value their mentorship for my broader career. 

Were there any outcomes from your project e.g. a paper, a study, clinical trial, extended research project (or potential for any of these)?

There were some exciting findings that I am currently in the middle of writing a manuscript for. Stay tuned!

Will you continue with any part of the research project for the next phase of your academic/working career?

I intend on continuing my work within the broader mission of the BioHEART dataset that my summer research project was derived from. I resonate with its mission to provide more individualised treatment for the biggest killer of Australians – cardiovascular disease.

What next for you – work, further study, travel?

I will spend the next two and a half years finishing medical school at the University of Sydney. I am very keen to study overseas during medical electives and potentially extend my experience with some research collaborations while I am placed abroad.

Will you maintain any ties with the Charles Perkins Centre, professional, friends?

I have and will continue to do so! There are many people I have grown quite fond of and see as life-long friends and colleagues!

What advice would you give to fellow students thinking about applying for a Summer Research Scholarship?

Healthcare is far broader than most people comprehend. It doesn’t matter what undergraduate degree or major you did; I can almost guarantee there is a problem that needs your help and insight. So, find where your passion intersects with the goals and research interests of the Charles Perkins Centre.

So much incredible research never makes it through to practice. Try to formulate questions with real-word applicability in mind. Think beyond a snippet of code, a presentation or a paper. These are important but the world needs your mind to create solutions that ultimately change lives. Make that your goal and, I guarantee, you will go far.

Applications for the Charles Perkins Centre Summer Research Scholarships 2024 close at midnight on 23 September.