Picture this. You’re a first year undergraduate STEM major about to attend your very first lecture at the University of Ottawa. You manage to make it to the classroom on time for the Professor’s introductory class. He then utters, “Raise your hand if you want to go into medical school”. The entire class raises their hands… Four years later, you find out that maybe one or two of those students actually made it into medical school, while the rest went on to become researchers, engineers, and teachers.
This scenario embodies the undergraduate experience of Dr. Anna Ampaw – a uOttawa alumna who earned her Bachelor of Science in 2014 and a PhD in bioorganic chemistry in 2022. Similar to her undergraduate classmates, Anna entered her first year with a firm career path in mind – dentistry. However, after a master’s degree (Dalhousie, supervised by Prof. David Jakeman) and a PhD (uOttawa, supervised by Prof. Robert Ben), Anna laughs when recalling her undergraduate days. She found dentistry to be an attractive career because it would allow her to lead a simple life.
Her unexpected transition towards a PhD began with a rejection letter from a dental school. Unwilling to give up on her dream, Anna pursued a master’s degree solely to better her chances of getting into dentistry. However, following another unsuccessful attempt, she began questioning her next steps. One day, while tutoring uOttawa students, Anna coincidentally ran into Prof. Robert Ben – her former CO-OP work term supervisor. By the end of their chat, he offered her a PhD position, which she hesitantly accepted. Despite her doubts, it was during this time that Anna recognized her passion for research. She worked on synthesizing small carbohydrate molecules that prevent ice damage in biological material, such as cells, organs and tissues, during cryopreservation – the process of freezing biological material. Anna collaborated with Canadian Blood Services, who preserve blood at sub-zero temperatures for extended periods. Normally, at those low temperatures (e.g., -80 to -196°C), ice crystals form and recrystallize, severely damaging cells. The molecules that Anna synthesized prevent this recrystallization, therefore leaving more viable cells after thawing. This is crucial for Canadian Blood Services, as it allows them to store blood samples for significantly longer periods with low risk of damage.
Anna expresses, “I’m happy that I did my PhD. Going through the graduate program helped me grow and learn a lot about myself.” She is currently pursuing postdoctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Patrick Gunning at the University of Toronto.
Anna encourages students who may be unsure about their career path to “keep an open mind and follow their interests as they could easily be turned into an occupation”.
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