Graduation Ceremony 9
Friday 28th November 2014 at 4.30 p.m.
JESUITS’ CHURCH – VALLETTA
Graduand’s Address
Melissa Formosa
Student Representative
When I was asked to deliver the speech, I felt truly honoured and excited, but needless to say, also confused and terrified as to how
and what I should say. After writing so many abstracts, reports, presentations, posters and above all my never-ending thesis, this
was far from a walk in the park. It took me quite a few days to actually muster the courage and start putting pen to paper.
I was told to summarise the myriad experiences of my four-year Ph.D. journey in 10 minutes. Obviously, 10 minutes are nowhere
near enough to even skim the surface of the Ph.D. experience but I will do my best.
Four years of exceedingly hard work, with ups and downs, and strangely enough not sufficient time to perform all the experiments
and work that I wanted to do. This, I have been assured, is the universal experience of Master and Ph.D. students. I started out full
of enthusiasm and elaborate ideas, a good number of which had to be re-thought to make them realistic and achievable, by which
time my hope of successfully finishing my Ph.D. on time was starting to fade. Then all of a sudden things fell amazingly into place
and I finished my work. I am glad that in spite of the constant challenges imposed by scientific research, I did not give up, despite
the very low morale, which at times got the best of me. It took much patience and perseverance, but the discovery of new findings
made it all worthwhile. I guess I can speak on behalf of all graduands here this evening, in that we all, at some point during our
respective courses had doubts or fears that perhaps we were not capable of achieving our goal. We are here tonight, proof that with
sacrifice, hard work and the endless support of a number of people around us, everything is possible.
Looking back, my journey to this day began in 2004, exactly 10 years ago, when I graduated from the University of Malta with a
Bachelor degree in medical laboratory science. I was offered a job in a private biomedical laboratory from where I gained a lot of
knowledge and first-hand experience in all the disciplinary fields of biomedical science, including certain areas which I had
perhaps never considered to delve into. From there I knew I wanted to further my studies and started reading for a Master’s degree
in biomedical science through distance learning at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. I was determined that my studies
would end there because it was no easy task juggling work and the demanding study obligations. I often joked with my colleagues
that no matter what, they were to stop me if I ever changed my mind and decided to read for a Ph.D. degree. On the contrary, they
encouraged me to further my studies.
Genetics had always fascinated me as a subject and I greatly admired scientists who dedicated their lives to research. So, a year
after completing my Master’s degree, I plucked up the courage and approached the Head of the Applied Biomedical Science
Department Professor Angela Xuereb, to ask if there was the possibility of reading for a Ph.D. degree in genetics of osteoporosis
and bone diseases under her supervision. Our first meeting went very well and we were both looking forward to the start of this
exciting new project. The only problem was that I was not even sure what the proper definition of osteoporosis was. All I knew was
that it was a bone disease which affected older women and a bone density scan was used to diagnose it. I can now tell you that
osteoporosis is far from being an old woman’s disease, but anyone at any age can be affected with this condition whether male or
female. My Ph.D. study involved recruiting over 1000 research subjects, some of whom had experienced the unfortunate
consequence of osteoporosis – that of sustaining a spontaneous fragility fracture, accompanied with possible long-lasting
debilitating effects. This gave me all the encouragement I needed to carry forward my research and to try to raise more awareness
regarding this condition.
The past four years were indeed very demanding, but so exciting. In fact, some of the highlights of my Ph.D. deserve a mention,
including learning new techniques, having the opportunity to collaborate with a number of highly esteemed bone researchers
during a seven-month stay at Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the discovery of new findings, and presenting our work at
international conferences. In addition, I have met and had the privilege of working with truly remarkable people both locally and
abroad, including laboratory scientists, researchers, professors, and other fellow Ph.D. and Master students, who I have the honour
of calling my friends and colleagues. They not only provided their expert opinions and ideas, but were always extra supportive and
helpful. For such a small country like Malta, I feel honoured that we were asked to participate in an international consortium with
study cohorts from Europe, Australia, Canada, America and Asia, with the aim of identifying new underlying biology contributing
to bone diseases. I am proud to say that this collaboration has resulted in a research article soon to be published in a prestigious
international peer-reviewed journal.
Moreover, I am grateful to all the participants who enthusiastically took part in our project and who encouraged me immensely
during my studies. Being able to improve the diagnosis, identification and management of people who suffer or might suffer from
osteoporosis and fragility fractures has been a critical driving force in our research. I am sure that all of the graduands tonight can
identify with this feeling and work towards making the lives of others better, be it in the medical field or improving the
environment and way of living. What an achievement that is, something we should feel immensely proud of.
We should also be proud of our University. The opportunities provided and the research being performed within this
establishment are encouraging. Limitations, especially financial ones will always exist; however, it is important for us that our
University acknowledges and continuously endeavors to support our research. This is definitely the way forward. We hope that
investments in scientific research, through scholarship schemes such as STEPS (which funded my research), MGSS, Master It and
other initiatives, such as the ‘Research Innovation and Development Trust’ at the University of Malta will continue to support
research. The equal distribution of such funding to ALL the faculties engaged in scientific research will certainly boost our
research and attract new researchers and talented research students with new and innovative research ideas.
Before I conclude, I must take the opportunity to thank all the people without whom I would definitely not be standing before you
here today. I am indebted towards my supervisor Professor Angela Xuereb, other academics and fellow colleagues, some of whom
are present this evening, for believing in me and providing endless help and support, despite their extensive workloads. Thank you
for sharing with me the burdens and challenges faced throughout my uphill ride. It has been a privilege to work with you all and I
look forward to many more years of demanding but fascinating research. To my family and loved ones: words cannot express the
immense gratitude and appreciation that I have. Thank you for listening to my endless rants and enduring some seriously bad
mood swings which were brought on by some failed experimental results. You never failed to show your full support and
reassurance that one day I would make it. For this I am forever grateful. Likewise, I am sure that I can speak on behalf of all
graduands to thank all parents and loved ones here tonight – our success would not have been possible without your loving
support.
One final word: follow your heart and do what you love doing, no matter how challenging it may be. Though it will be a daunting
task with many headaches, heartaches and sleepless nights, this is what will help mould you into a stronger and more confident
person, both in your professional and personal life. I wish you all the best of luck.
Thank you.