Presidential Awards for Youth are granted to people particularly distinguished in science, education, culture, youth policy, youth work, public and socially-oriented activities, innovations and entrepreneurship.
Gulnar Abdullayeva successfully completed her BSc in Biology at Baku State University, Azerbaijan in 2016. After graduating from the BSc with honours, her enthusiasm for science increased further in the intricacies of biology with an honorary MSc degree in Molecular Biology from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnologies, Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Gulnar has been a DPhil student at St Cross College, Oxford since October 2019, and has had the privilege of working closely with an incredible St Cross team throughout her time as a Student Vice-President.
During her DPhil, Gulnar investigated the mechanisms of cell differentiation in colorectal cancer. The main aims of her project are to identify new potential factors that trigger cell differentiation and explore which primary defects affect cell differentiation in colorectal cancer. Improved understanding of cell differentiation will contribute to the treatment of colorectal carcinoma.