Deborah Sia Nicdao

Deborah Nicdao is a PhD student (under Margaret Holme's group) whose research focuses on characterizing the lipidome of extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolated from a library of cancer cells. EVs are nanovesicles excreted by all cells for intercellular communication and other fundamental biological processes. In cancer cells, EVs play an important role in cancer metastasis, facilitating communication between tumors and distant organs. While the role of EV proteins, nucleic acids, and surface markers has been studied, less information is known on the function of lipids in these processes. Hence, understanding both the chemical composition and physical arrangement of the constituent lipids in the membrane bilayer is an essential milestone towards unraveling the role of lipids in the bioactivity of EVs in cancer metastasis.

In 2023, Deborah Nicdao received an MSc in Nanomedicine for Drug Delivery from four universities: University of Patras, Université Paris Cité, Université d’Angers, and Università degli Studi di Pavia. She did her Master’s thesis at Chalmers, where she formulated asymmetric lipid vesicles mimicking extracellular vesicles to functionally deliver nucleic acids. She previously received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of the Philippines Manila in 2019.