Two PhD students from the John Curtin School of Medical Research were named the winner and runner-up at the Australian National University (ANU) 3-Minute Thesis Competition 2024 grand final, held on 25 July at Llewellyn Hall.

Sasanan Trakansuebkul from the Fischer Group won the $4000 prize with her presentation, “The Recipe for Curing Cancer? Differences Between mRNAs and Their Unstable Cousins.”

Trakansuebkul captivated both the audience and judges with a unique presentation, drawing a compelling analogy between her research and her grandmother’s fried rice recipe. Her complex study delves into the differences between mRNAs and cryptic unstable RNAs, which could be key to developing new cancer therapies.

Speaking about how she got the idea for this unique analogy, she replied with a smile: "I got hungry while editing my script and thought of my grandma's fried rice, and things just clicked."

Sasanan contracted COVID-19 just 5 days before the competition and completely lost her voice. “Other finalists, our 3MT coach Simon Clews, and The Shine Dalgarno Centre HDR Strategy Manager Arash Araghi were all very supportive and encouraged me to take part in the finals. I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without them,” she said.

Rakshanya Sekar from the Natoli Group secured second place with her presentation, “Treat Yourself! Harnessing Your Own Biology to Treat Vision Loss.” 

Sekar's work focuses on innovative methods to restore vision loss using the body’s own biological mechanisms.

“The highlight for me was meeting the nine other finalists and training for the big night. They were brilliant researchers and incredibly kind people who supported each other throughout the process. I am very grateful to the Clear Vision Research Group for their support and to ANU for organising this amazing event. Becoming runner-up was just the cherry on top,” Sekar said.

The final round featured ten contestants representing various colleges within ANU, including the ANU College of Asia & the Pacific, ANU College of Science and Medicine, ANU College of Business and Economics, ANU College of Engineering, Computing & Cybernetics, and the ANU College of Health and Medicine.

The 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) is a highly successful international competition where higher-degree research candidates showcase their communication skills by presenting their complex research in an engaging and accessible manner to a non-specialist audience, using only a single PowerPoint slide.

This competition originated at the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2008 and expanded to include other Australian universities in 2010. By 2016, it evolved into the Asia-Pacific competition.

As the winner of the ANU final, Trakansuebkul will advance to the prestigious 2024 Asia-Pacific final.