Xaverian Alumnus Naser Al-Rais (Class of 2024) from Middleton, Manchester, has already realised his dream of gaining a place at the University of Cambridge and undertook a work placement at the prestigious Harvard University, USA, to collaborate with a team developing tools for neurodegenerative disease research.
Naser secured a highly competitive spot through proactive outreach. While mapping the global landscape of neurodegenerative disease research, he identified a Harvard professor with compelling work in protein degradation. Naser took the initiative to reach out to pursue a new research direction for the lab. Naser commented: “I emailed him to inquire specifically about a research direction he’d mentioned in an article. This led to an interview where we discussed the project’s objectives, and I secured a spot in the lab for the summer!”
Naser’s profile also earned him a fully funded placement in another international research programme – one of only 10 students worldwide. However, he chose instead to deepen his focus on neurodegenerative diseases at Harvard Medical School.
On why he came to Xaverian, Naser said: “I felt the Open Day was welcoming, and the taster lessons were engaging. I remember in the college’s mathematics taster lesson, the teacher asked us how we might estimate the circumference of the Earth using only tools from the 11th century, to understand how Al-Biruni had done it.
“Biology was my favourite subject. I found it much more engaging at A Level than at GCSE because the molecular pathways became more complex and I began to see the cell as a set of interactions rather than each mechanism in isolation. I loved my teacher’s extensive use of diagrams. He’d start the lesson with a blank whiteboard, and it’d be full within an hour.”
At Xaverian, Naser’s curiosity led him to meet researchers at several universities, including in Manchester, Edinburgh and Oxford, where his interest in Parkinson’s disease research began. Naser gained top grades in A Level Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics before he embarked on a BA (Hons) in Natural Sciences at Cambridge for its interdisciplinary course and as the biomedical research hub of Europe. Naser said: “My experience at Cambridge has been fantastic. There are so many things that make being here so exceptional and there are so many opportunities to explore, and many knowledgeable people to learn from. I also love the traditions, and living in a college makes working and connecting with people really easy.”
During his placement, Naser worked on cellular models for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). “Neurodegenerative diseases can take decades to manifest in neurons, and as we don’t have that kind of time in the lab, we create models in cells that we can use to test what may or may not work to prevent or reverse the disease. The lab had begun developing a new model, which I expanded by applying to other diseases. After looking at how toxic a common patient mutation was, we saw promising signals in the data that the lab is continuing to investigate.
“My supervisor was rigorous with his experimental protocols, which is something I adopted and am applying to my current research in Cambridge’s chemistry department, where I study how proteins behave and interact with each other,” he added.
Naser is planning to progress onto a biology PhD once he completes his degree. “I’d like to work on ageing biology, with the goal of bringing therapies to patients. Ageing is the biggest risk factor for diseases like neurodegeneration, cancer, type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease, so treating it may keep us in good health for longer.”