Megan Malach (PhD Candidate)

Megan Malach is a PhD student at the University of Lethbridge. She works with cannabis extract as a treatment for rare and aggressive pediatric brain tumors.

What is your research about?

My thesis project investigates the use of whole cannabis extract as a treatment for rare and aggressive pediatric brain tumors. It focuses mostly on the molecular side of things- meaning once we establish that cannabis has some effect on the cells of these tumors, we have to look further into what exactly is happening inside the cell to make that happen. This is an important early stage of development for any drug.

What made you go into industry or academia? How did you get involved with your current research?

spent a couple summers volunteering and then a couple more working as a "summer student" and really came to love the lab environment. When I did my undergraduate degree in Molecular Genetics at the University of Alberta, I was encouraged to take undergraduate research courses as a way to get experience in research and see if I liked it and was any good at it. I enjoyed these courses infinitely more than any others and got really good grades in them, so entering a graduate degree that was entirely research based felt like the logical next step.

What excites you about your work?

I have always been driven by research that has really clear impacts in the real world, and it doesn't get easier to justify than rare and aggressive pediatric brain tumors. The kind of research I'm drawn to is very translational, which basically means that it translates all the boring molecular stuff into tangible real-world benefits- like new cancer treatments. The idea that my research will have clinical utility in the relatively near future is very motivating. Cannabis research itself is also a very new field and it's exciting to feel like I'm right on the edge of what is known, peering into the unknown.

What are the impacts of your work?

Ideally someday, improved cancer treatments for the kinds of tumors I work on. These tumors barely have a standard treatment protocol as it is, and it's really tough for those kids to go through, not to mention sometimes the treatment ends up being more dangerous than the tumor itself. I also think cannabis has a lot of other side benefits that make it an attractive treatment- ideally we can prove not just that it treats cancer, but that it also helps with the pain, nausea, appetite issues, and other side effects of cancer and cancer treatments. The field of pediatric cancer and cannabis is also currently very small- expanding that only leads to new developments and treatments for those patients.

What is a fun fact about yourself?

I've been writing novels and short stories since I learned how to spell, and still harbor a secret desire to become a novelist. Though nobody's every read any of my work since I've never pursued publishing, I've written about 4 novel length stories since I was 14, and participate in National Novel Writing Month (an annual writing challenge held during November where participants try to write 50,000 words) every year, even if I fail.