Keïla Opele-Navenge wins Marguerite Gillemon Prize at the EDT-Cancerology Annual Meeting

Keïla Opele-Navenge was awarded the Marguerite Gillemon Prize for Best Flash Talk at the Annual Meeting of the FNRS Doctoral School of Experimental Cancerology (EDT-Cancerology), held on May 23, 2025, at UMons. This year’s theme was “Innovative Strategies Against Cancer: Radiosensitisation and New Targeted Therapies.”

Keïla joined the research team of Prof. Anne-Catherine Heuskin (UNamur, NARILIS, LARN) in December 2023 to pursue a PhD thesis as part of a Télévie-funded project, titled “Targeting ferroptosis resistance to increase sensitivity of cancers to radiotherapy”. This project is conducted in close collaboration with Prof. Nor Eddine Sounni (ULiège, GIGA cancer). 

Irradiation of tumor cells causes both direct DNA damage and indirect cellular damage, with the generation of highly toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). Various types of cell death can occur following radiation, including apoptosis, the most common form, but also necrosis, autophagy and ferroptosis. Keïla’s research focuses on ferroptosis, an iron-dependent cell death pathway, characterized by the peroxidation of cell membrane lipids, forming “lipid-ROS.” 

Keïla conducts in vitro experiments on lung cancer cells, exposing them to increasing doses of X-ray radiation or treating them with agents that either induce or inhibit ferroptosis. The aim of her research is to better understand the mechanisms behind ferroptosis resistance and the role of lipids in this process. Ultimately, her work seeks to evaluate combined treatments (radiotherapy/protontherapy with ferroptosis inducers) as a strategy to overcome radioresistance in cancer cells.

At the EDT-Cancerology meeting, Keïla presented her findings through a poster and a dynamic flash talk, for which she received the Best Short Oral Presentation award! 

Congratulations to Keïla for this well-deserved prize !