“I wouldn’t be where I am today without my experience at Brock,” said Biological Sciences grad, Lucas Maddalena. “Having such a great relationship with my supervisors has been important for me, allowing me to keep growing as a student.”

Maddalena credits the support of his Brock supervisors, Biological Sciences Associate Professor Jeff Stuart, whom he worked closely with during his time at the University, and Professor Jeffrey Atkinson in Chemistry.

The research that began in Brock University’s labs has taken Maddalena (BSc ’12, MSc ’17) nearly 6,000 kilometres across the Atlantic to one of the world’s most renowned institutions. Maddalena crossed the pond this past fall in order to walk the halls of the University of Cambridge, where he has accepted a prestigious $300,000 scholarship to complete his PhD.

The Thorold native was the only overseas recipient of the Cancer Research U.K. Cambridge Centre 2017 Non-clinical PhD Studentship Award, of which five were awarded in 2017. The scholarship covers three years of study, the typical length of a PhD program at Cambridge, and will support the costs of Maddalena’s research, as well as his living expenses.

“It’s surreal. That’s probably the best word to describe it,” he said of this new chapter in his life, which has him researching within Cambridge’s Department of Medicine.

His research continues the theme of his master’s work, which explored mitochondrial function and oxygen usage in the context of health and disease.

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