Interview with former BISM student Yasma Esteitieh
We catch up with former BISM student Yasma Esteitieh when she is home for a weekend in Sweden. Last spring, she won a silver medal at the World Championships for Young Scientists for her mathematical model to improve the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. Right now, she is in Paris working on a startup idea. She will then go to San Francisco for a week to meet people in the startup world, corporate world and see their successes and learn from them.
-We are working on data-driven approaches to diagnostics. Now I’m moving from academia to a more practical environment where my research can be used. And then I’m going to start studying medicine in Lund in January to become a doctor, I think.
But let’s back up a bit. Yasma started at Bladins in PYP2 and went here all the way through MYP4. She is 18 years old and graduated a year early from Malmö Borgarskola.
-I took half a gap year after my graduation to do my startup so in January I will study medicine in Lund. I recently led a research collaboration between AstraZeneca and the American University in Beirut to verify my cancer research project where I identified 9 molecules that could reduce tumour growth by 97%. We verify it in the lab.
-So last summer I did it in the lab, working with cells, breast cancer cells. And this year, on International Women’s Day, I was named one of Sweden’s Women of the Year for my cancer research project.
What was the best thing about attending Bladins?
-I think it’s a more homely feeling. Bladins has great teachers. They are very supportive, and the level of education is very high. It makes you well prepared for the future. Given that I have this strong background, it was very easy to go to high school, but also to go to university or study at a higher level.
-I feel that this background was also very helpful for my research, as I had a way of thinking that could be easily applied to further studies and even to very challenging subjects in biology and maths.
-The teachers are super important because I feel like a school can be amazing, but if the teachers aren’t good, it doesn’t help the child or the student. So, I think the teachers were a very big part, helping us outside of class, doing these extra classes and competitions. They give you opportunities outside the normal education system. I think the teachers are great in that way and it gave me a very good foundation and support to continue my studies and my work.
What have you taken away from your time at Bladins that has helped you get to where you are today?
-I think the school gives you the right way of thinking. Now when I do very difficult things, I have this way of thinking. I understand easily, and I think it’s just taught by knowing how to think. There’s like lab work in school, there’s how to write research papers and how to understand maths in a good way. So, it’s not just practice. It’s like actually knowing and understanding the knowledge. It teaches you how to think.