Ema Albrechtová’s international journey led her to glioblastoma research in the Netherlands. Working across labs taught her a key lesson: “Collaboration is the only way to make progress.”
You’re quite a traveller. You come from the Czech Republic, but you studied in Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. How did these different academic and cultural experiences shape you as a researcher?
They really widened my horizons. I did my bachelor’s in the Czech Republic, where education is very theory-oriented. At first, I found that frustrating, but later I realised it gave me a strong foundation for all the practical work I did abroad.
Studying in different environments also showed me how differently people approach science. Each lab uses different systems and different ways of planning and documenting experiments. This helped me gain complementary skills and a broad understanding of scientific practice.
How were you able to travel so much?
Two of my exchanges were funded by the Erasmus+ programme, which made them possible. In the Netherlands, I received a stipend from the Dutch government. I’ve always worked alongside my studies, and my parents also supported me. I’m really grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had.
What do you think of the Erasmus+ programme?
I really recommend it. My first exchange, in Sweden, completely changed my life. It opened my eyes to studying abroad and gave me lifelong friends. It also made me feel like a real European.
What first drew you to research on glioblastoma and immune cells?
I wanted to work on something that had a link to real patients. Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive brain cancers, and at the moment, no treatment can cure it. Existing therapies can slow the disease down or ease symptoms, but they don’t stop it. That makes it a field where new insights are urgently needed.
In this project, we looked not only at the cancer cells themselves but also at the healthy cells in the tumour environment — especially certain immune cells that get “manipulated” by the tumour and end up helping it grow instead of fighting it. Understanding how that happens, and how you might interrupt that process, was the central question in my research.
You worked with a zebrafish model that shows how tumour cells and immune cells interact in real time. What makes this model so powerful?
Yes — real little fish! These specific zebrafish don’t exist in the wild; they are specially bred for research. One of their remarkable features is that their skin is transparent. That means you can place a live fish under a microscope and actually watch how a tumour develops inside its body.
With mice, researchers usually have to sacrifice the animal to see what is happening internally. Zebrafish allow you to follow the same individual over several days. It gives an unusual opportunity to watch the tumor grow in real time. However, the fish are eventually euthanised in line with ethical rules.
You developed a new screening method. What does it do?
In cancer research, you often want to find out which genes influence how the disease behaves. Normally, you would test one gene at a time — a slow and labour-intensive process.
We created an experimental pipeline that makes it much easier to switch genes on and off. As a result, we can test many potential gene targets quickly and see which ones might play an important role. It’s a much faster way to get the first clues that could be useful for future therapies.
What does this mean for patients?
This is very early-stage research. We didn’t develop a treatment, but we did identify gene targets that may be interesting for future drug development. The techniques we used are not ready for the clinic — they were only meant to show that the idea has potential.
The real value lies in pointing researchers toward biological processes that could one day lead to better therapies.
Will this work be continued – and will you be involved?
Yes, several labs from different institutes continue this research. After my graduation, I first took time off: I hiked from Mexico to Canada, all through the United States. Now I am applying for PhD positions – ideally still in cancer research, possibly even glioblastoma – but probably not within this exact project.
How did you experience the multidisciplinary collaboration across institutes?
It was essential. Glioblastoma is extremely complex, so one lab alone cannot address all aspects. Immunology, nanoparticle technology, zebrafish modelling – each expertise is needed. Collaboration is the only way to make progress.
Do scientists share information enough?
Not enough. Scientific research often produces negative results, and these are essential to make progress. But they are hard to publish, so they often stay hidden and other groups unknowingly repeat the same experiments. It wastes time and money. Unfortunately, the current publishing system encourages this.
Your supervisor praised your perseverance. Your hobby is long-distance walking. Does this help you to persevere?
Maybe! This research project taught me a lot about patience. Many things didn’t work for a long time. Sometimes the only way forward is to step back and gain emotional distance: remind yourself the project is important, but not your entire identity.
Despite the difficulties, you still choose an academic path. Why?
Because I love science. Understanding how things work gives me deep satisfaction. Being a scientist means learning something new every day – there aren’t many jobs that offer that. That’s what keeps me going.
