Dr Radzman is a Research Associate at the Sainsbury Laboratory University of Cambridge, whose work is focussed on improving the productivity of legumes, a sustainable source of protein.
We last interviewed her in 2020, below she reflects on how her work has progressed since then, on a very important female role model and how the Global Food Security network has inspired her to take an even more proactive approach to improving our food system.
My bachelor degree is in biotechnology focusing on molecular biology and chemistry. Initially I was not interested in plant biology but after having a short research stint in a plant biology lab at the end of my second year, I decided to take a plant biology course for my final undergraduate year. That has led me to doing my PhD in plant biology focusing on a signalling peptide that could increase the formation of nitrogen-fixing nodules on legume plants.
Since my PhD, I have been fascinated by legume plants due to their nitrogen-fixing nodule formation on the root system. These nodules can only be formed through mutualistic symbiosis with specific bacteria in the soil called rhizobia.
I believe that legumes are important for improving our food security since they do not rely on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. Hence these crops provide a sustainable source of protein. It is therefore important to improve the productivity of legumes, especially the neglected legume plants that are climate-ready. One of the amazing properties of the legume plants is that they can survive in extreme climate conditions by forming specialised or modified organs such as underground tubers. As a side project, I have been studying how several legume plants can form rich protein tubers.
For my main research, I am focusing on signalling peptides that can improve plant development including nitrogen-fixing nodules and above-ground shoots. Understanding these fundamental processes is important for further application to develop sustainable and productive crops that can withstand climate change.
Growing up, my mum has always been an inventive engineer at home. She used to work as a civil engineer before switching careers to become a secondary school teacher so she could have more time taking care of us at home. I remember that she would do technical drawings, woodworking and building electronic circuits as part of her teaching in school. Therefore growing up, I did not know any limitation for a woman to be successful in STEM, since my mum is a good example of a very capable engineer.
It was not until my PhD years that I learned about the gender bias in STEM and how that can negatively impact women in the field. I am grateful that I only knew this later in life and that I have an amazing and capable woman role model when I was young.
Since our interview in March 2020, the tuberous legume project that I mentioned was funded by the Alborada Fund and GCRF, which resulted in great collaboration with Institute for Manufacturing and IITA in Nigeria. The project focuses on the rehabilitation of the neglected legume crop of Africa, the African Yam Bean or AYB (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) in Nigeria. The project has also opened up a new opportunity to work with scientists in Bahir-Dar University to re-introduce AYB in Ethiopia with the help of the Centre for Global Equality (this is an on-going project).
On the fundamental research side, I am still working on plant signalling peptides but I have expanded my study area to include shoot development. I am currently working with Prof Henrik Jönsson on how we can improve shoot formation by understanding the mechanism of different signalling peptides.
From the networks that I have built from GFS and across the university over the past few years, I was inspired to take more proactive actions to improve our food system. Therefore, I am also currently in the early phases of building a startup that aims to improve the growth and productivity of legume crops, particularly the neglected and forgotten ones.
Please find Nadia's profile on our website. Dr Radzman is just one of the women in our network dedicated to improving global food security. You can find links to recordings of many of them talking about their work here.