Marja Jäättelä
Professor Dr. Marja Jäättelä has been an important, provocative figure in the cell death field for some time. Currently she is head of Cell Death and Metabolism – Lysosomal Pathways and director of the Center for Autophagy, Recycling and Disease at the Danish Cancer Society Research Center as well as professor of Cell Death and Metabolism at the Copenhagen University in Denmark. She is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Danish Royal Academy of Sciences, and Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and serves in numerous international scientific advisory boards, editorial boards and evaluation panels. She has almost 300 publications and over 45,000 citations. She was an early proponent of the importance of lysosomes in cell death and recently has demonstrated their importance in mitosis. One could write quite a bit about her, but her own words are more elegant. In a Danish publication (link at end of page; translation courtesy of Google Translate) she says:
“The reason that I have these goals is down to one question that I asked very early on in my career: why don’t cancer cells die, and how can we make them die? I always made that question control the direction of my research, rather than what I can do technically. The technical aspects control a lot because when you have developed advanced systems and skills, then, of course, it is natural to use them.”
“My research has to be controlled by questions, not methods.”
“The fact that so many people continue to die from cancer is largely due to cancer cells developing resistance to existing treatments.”
“My research should be guided by the questions, not by the methods. I have to acquire the methods needed to answer the questions I believe are central — but when you have been building methods for 20 years, you get stuck. And when the basement, where all my cells were stored, was suddenly filled with water and everything was destroyed – it was in a way a little liberating to lose it all.”
“I was Chair for a session. The overhead projector, as it was then, broke, so there was a break in the program. All the greats in the field were there, the hall was full. So, I thought, now I’m using the break for a discussion, so I asked what does the audience think about caspase-independent cell death? Then there was a Swedish professor, a very leading researcher, and he was two meters tall, who stood up and shouted: ‘There is NO cell death without caspases!’ I shrunk to half my size and was so happy when the projector started again. And I thought we’ll probably have to wait a bit before submitting that article.’ After the 10-year struggle, the work was finally recognized and cited by the world’s leading researchers in the field of cancer and cell death. And the same Swedish professor came afterwards and apologized to Prof. Marja Jäättelä, congratulated her on the achievement and let her understand that he could well remember what he had said then at the meeting. So, she concludes, perhaps what you are most proud of — the biggest breakthroughs — is when you have insisted and almost been laughed at, and the outside world finally thinks you were right…” What human qualities are necessary if you want to be successful in doing innovative research?” “To be able to do excellent research, you must of course have a certain capacity, thoughtfulness. And you must develop confidence in yourself…. Self-confidence is necessary because challenging dogma requires enormous confidence in one’s own results. At first, I thought: “I’m wrong, my results don’t fit the dogma – I can’t do experiments, I can’t measure apoptosis”, until it dawned on me that the apoptosis really wasn’t there. … When students hesitate to show me some data because it doesn’t fit what we or others have shown before, I say “Why didn’t you show it?” There are no absolute truths in this world, you have to believe it, to be able to move a field.” …and… curiosity. “Most major discoveries are not made because you do an experiment to answer a specific question. They are done because you are observant. You see that something unexpected happens in your experiment. And instead of thinking of it as an artifact, you become curious and try to understand it. I remember a student who came and said, “Marja, the medium from these cells turns completely yellow, how can that be?”, instead of just thinking “It shouldn’t be yellow, I’ve made a mistake, I’m starting over. …, and then it may be that they find a completely new mechanism, a completely new connection. “…” Our most exciting project right now comes from a Finnish postdoc who was optimizing a method where we stain for leaky lysosomes. She is super good at microscopy and a really good researcher. The dogma is that lysosomes are not leaky in a healthy cell ‘fits” in the prevailing dogma, but then it is already based on something. … don’t focus too much on what you think you know. When you plan projects, it is based on expecting such, such and such, but then when you find something that is much more interesting, you have to dare to abandon your plan.” … two other crucial qualities … diligence and persistence.
“The last characteristic that Marja Jäättelä believes has been decisive for her own career is what she calls her enormous faith in her own idea. “I don’t know where it comes from. It probably sounds a bit strange, but I have never really doubted it. I have been frustrated by the opposition, but I have not doubted it. It is not the same as simply assuming that you are right—but that you believe in your idea, want to test it, give it a chance.”
“It is very important to be able to write and communicate. You must be able to collaborate — at least in research, where there is a need for such advanced techniques that one group cannot do it all alone. Then you also have to be able to network, you have to have your face everywhere.”
“Those I really admire are those who dare to move beyond the dogmas, into the unknown.”
“Although it has not been the driving force from the beginning, I am a trained doctor. So yes, I think I’m pretty much a citizen of society and care about a lot of things. Imagine if there were some small children who would feel better because of what we do. It means a lot, and even more the older I get.”
Professor Marja Jaattela exemplifies what it means to be a trailblazer in the field of scientific research. Her resolve to question established norms and pursue novel pathways in the study of cell death and lysosomal functions highlights her unique blend of curiosity, confidence, and scientific rigor. These attributes have not only fueled her prolific output but have also earned her the respect and admiration of her peers worldwide. Jaattela’s journey—marked by persistence, an unwavering belief in her ideas, and a deep-seated desire to contribute meaningfully to society—illustrates the profound impact that a dedicated and thoughtful researcher can have on both the scientific community and society at large. As she continues to inspire future generations of scientists, her work remains a testament to the power of challenging the status quo and embracing the unexpected in the pursuit of scientific discovery.
https://dg.dk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Kap 4 Maria Ja%CC%88a%CC%88ttela%CC%88-FD.pdf
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