Alumni Bios
Biology department alumnus Amina Soliman 2014, is working as a Senior Environmental Researcher at Environics for Management of Environmental Systems (Environmental Consultancy) in Egypt. It involves conducting environmental impact assessments for various projects.
Amina Soliman graduated from The American University in Cairo in June 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in biology and two minors in Chemistry and Psychology. Her undergraduate senior thesis was focused on studying the reproductive season and behavior of an echinoderm, “Sculpsitechinus auritus” found in the Red Sea, Egypt, which was later published with the great help and efforts of my supervisor, Dr. Arthur Bos.
Later on, Amina Soliman graduated with an MSc in Ecology and Conservation: 2016/ Lancaster University/Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC)/Dissertation title: “Multi-scale topography-biota interactions of the keystone inter-tidal species, the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) in Morecambe Bay”. It focused on how the spatial pattern of the blue mussel contributed to its growth and resilience.
How has the biology department influenced your career?
"I am grateful I joined the AUC Biology Department. The staff is extremely supportive and they helped in every step I took in my career path without hesitation. My biology professors taught me to think and write in a scientific manner, they taught me how to collect and analyze data and write meaningful reports. They also prepared me to do fieldwork. All this helped to shape me as a scientist. I am still in contact with the biology department and we are still exchanging news and information."
More about Amina
"I did a lot of international volunteering relevant to my career including working with various NGOs and organizations such as sea turtles protection in Uruguay, bird surveying and identification in the Amazon Jungle of Peru and permaculture farming in Ecuador."
Scientific Publications
Soliman, A., Amleh, A., Kafafy, S., & Bos, A. R. (2016). Population ecology, reproduction, and locomotion of the sand dollar Sculpsitechinus auritus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) in the Gulf of Suez, northern Red Sea. Marine Biodiversity, 1-9
Biology department alumnus, Rami Srouji graduated from The American University in Cairo in June 2013. Rami joined AUC in 2009 after receiving a full scholarship funded by the US Department of State under the title of Middle East Partnership Initiative Tomorrow’s Leaders (MEPI TL). Studying at AUC, and especially in the Biology Department, Rami had full trust and confidence that he would be receiving the best education and mentorship he could get in the Middle East region in Egypt.
After graduating in 2013, he started medical school at the American University of Beirut and graduated in 2017 as one of the top-ranking students in his class. During medical school, he joined Johns Hopkins Medical Center for 3 months to do clinical research in the field of vascular surgery. After graduation, he received the Bobst International Fellowship for the Citizens of Lebanon Grant to do a 2-year postdoctoral research fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, which is one of the leading hospitals in cancer research and treatment in the world.
He is currently working in the Hepatopancreatobiliary Service in the Department of Surgical Oncology on several basic and clinical research projects, one of which focuses on the role of exosomes produced by colorectal tumors in determining the pre-metastatic niches in the liver. He is still finishing my postdoctoral research fellowship at MSKCC and will be seeking a residency in general surgery in 2019 and, eventually, a clinical fellowship in Surgical Oncology.
How has the biology department influenced your career?
"The Biology Department at AUC played a pivotal role in providing me with all the support and skills I needed to achieve all my academic goals. I have always had an interest in the field of medicine, but it was the Biology Department at AUC which instilled in me a passion for research. I was fortunate to have worked alongside the best professors and faculty in the region which allowed me to publish the research work which I was involved in throughout the four years before I graduated. Thank you AUC and especially the Biology Department, faculty and staff! "
Biology department alumnus Nataly Naser AL Deen graduated from The American University in Cairo in June 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology (following the pre-medical track) and a minor in chemistry and in psychology as a MEPI-TL (Middle East Partnership Initiative-Tomorrow’s Leaders) scholar. She conducted her senior research project at Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, TBRI, on hepatocellular carcinoma. Her undergraduate senior thesis title presented “YKL-40, a Novel Non-Invasive Biomarker as a Predictive and Prognostic Marker for HCV-Induced HCC” under the supervision of Dr. Suher Zada at AUC.
After she graduated from AUC, she was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Foreign Student scholarship in 2014, where she attended Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington D.C. and pursued my master’s degree in Tumor Biology at the Department of Oncology. She became part of Dr. Rebecca B. Riggings' team at the Lombardi Cancer Center. Our work focused on the therapeutic targeting of the ETS family with the small molecule YK-4-279 as an effective strategy for the treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer, TNBC. Her part in this joint research project was to test whether YK-4-279 is more efficacious in the absence of functional p53 in TNBC.
After she graduated from Georgetown in 2015, she started pursuing her PhD studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Cell and Molecular Biology with a focus on early breast cancer at the Biology Department. I joined Dr. Rabih Talhouk’s team, in collaboration with Dr. Rihab Nasr’s team at AUB, who are both members of International Breast Cancer and Nutrition, IBCN with a collaborator at Purdue University Dr. Sophie Lelièvre (one of IBCN’s leaders).
She is currently working on her Ph.D. thesis project entitled “microRNAs Dysregulated in Early Onset Breast Cancer in Lebanon and their Association with Loss of Morphogenesis of Breast Epithelium in a 3D Culture Model”. She will be traveling to Purdue University in Indiana (May-August 2018) to pursue a collaborative three-month research and training (including the gradient-on-a-chip technology). The collaborative project will address: “Harnessing miRNAs to prevent early breast cancer onset in Lebanese women”, which was just selected for funding by the CTSI Global Health Pilot Grant Competition (to fund our research) and a generous Fulbright Alumni Development Grant (as a travel Fellowship).
How has the biology department influenced your career?
Before AUC, I have always had a fervent interest in pursuing a medical degree. Still, after being part of the biology program at AUC, which fosters an incredible research environment, I discovered my love of research and academia. After taking an elective oncology course at the Pediatric Cancer Hospital, 57357, I knew that a career in cancer research was my calling. AUC nourished my passion for research, and I am very grateful for that. Not all institutions encourage their undergraduate students to engage in basic science research like AUC does. For many reasons, I am appreciative of AUC’s biology program, which helped me delve deep into the world of science and, of course, research.
Attending many educational institutions across the world, I am forever grateful to AUC for igniting my love of research and sense of community engagement. At the AUC biology department, we were all like a family, and what I remember the most is the cooperative spirit that the professors and all the staff encouraged amongst us all. Everyone’s success felt like our own! Thank you, AUC and everyone at the Biology Department!
More About Nataly
Nataly started her own initiative for breast cancer survivors in Lebanon called Pink Steps. Pink Steps aims to promote physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle in breast cancer survivors in Lebanon. Pink Steps was selected by a generous grant (Fulbright Alumni Community Action Grant) funded by AMIDEAST and the United States Department of State Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. Read more
Scientific Publications
Book Chapter: The volume is currently being published within Springer’s series Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. Title: “Cross-roads to drug resistance and Metastasis in breast cancer: miRNAs regulatory function and biomarker capability” (In Press). Authors: Naser AL Deen Nataly, Farah Nassar, Nasr Rihab, Talhouk Rabih
Manuscript: Title: “Anti-cancer and Anti-inflammatory Activity of the Sea Cucumber Holothuria polii Aqueous Extract” (In press). Authors: Kareh Mike, Nahas Rana, Al-Araj Lamis, Al-Ghadban Sarah, Naser AL Deen Nataly, Saliba Najat, El-Sabban Marwan, Talhouk Rabih
Biology department alumnus Mohie-El-Din Sherif is working as a Technical Commercial Associate at Cargill. He graduated from The American University in Cairo in June 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in biology. His undergraduate senior thesis was titled “Parasitic and commensalistic relations between an ascidian and a suite of crustaceans: Phallusia nigra as a biodiverse host in the Red Sea”. Later on, in 2016, Mohie-El-Din Sherif graduated with an MSc in Animal Nutrition from Wageningen University and Research.
How has the biology department influenced your career?
"I consider the Biology department of AUC as the place where my foundations in science and critical thinking were built; it was a solid stepping stone to my higher education and research career in Europe."
Scientific Publications
Kim, I.-H.; Cruz-Rivera, E.; El-Sahhar, S.; Sherif, M.-E.-D. (2016). Cyclopoid copepods (Ascidicolidae, Notodelphyidae) associated with Phallusia nigra Savigny, 1816 (Ascidiacea) in the Red Sea: a new ascidicolid and first descriptions of the males from two notodelphyids. Journal of Crustacean Biology. 36(4): 553-566.
Biology department alumnus Seifeldin '08 is working in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Flushing Hospital Medical Center in New York.
Seifeldin Tamer Sadek graduated from The American University in Cairo in June 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in chemistry. His undergraduate senior thesis was completed at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit 3 and focused on improving rotavirus diagnostic testing through genotyping. He then moved to Qatar to attend Weill Cornell Medical College and completed his medical doctorate in 2013. He completed a one-year surgery residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University. Dr. Sadek is currently an obstetrics and gynecology resident at Flushing Hospital Medical Center in New York, United States.
"Biology at AUC was the start of my career,” Dr. Sadek said. “Not only did it provide an excellent basic science foundation for me to build on, but the department has always been a great support system. It is one of the main reasons I was accepted in medical school, and I will always be grateful for that. I hope to return one day to the department and be a part of its continuous growth."
Scientific Publications
Ahmed Baddreldin MD, Seifeldin Sadek, “The Risk of Cardiac Defects and the Indication of In Utero ECHO for Multiple Pregnancies.” Ninth RCOG International Scientific Meeting, Athens, Greece, 2011
Seifeldin Sadek MD, Emree Kayaalp MD, “Ethnic Differences in Maternal Morbidity Outcomes of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.” Manuscript in preparation, 2015
Biology department alumnus, Peter Refki graduated from The American University in Cairo in June 2006. He completed his Master of Science in biotechnology at AUC in 2010 under the supervision of Dr. Rania Siam, where he investigated the molecular variation of a tumor suppressor gene in various cancer tissues. Peter then moved to France and earned his PhD from Claude Bernard University in Lyon in December 2014. His work aimed at investigating the role of Hox genes in the genetic and developmental control of growth and morphological adaptation of water strider legs.
Peter is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology situated in Plön, Germany, since 2016. His research is focused on understanding how 3D morphologies are controlled during early mouse development. To tackle this challenging question, he uses a unique blend of classical developmental biology, geometric morphometric phenotyping, genome-wide association studies, and functional knockout analyses.
How has the biology department influenced your career?
“Joining the Biology department at AUC was a turning point in my life. The uniqueness of the program is the one-on-one interaction between professors and the student which ensures the continuous growth of the latter during and beyond studies. The hands-on lab training I received in combination with the academic courses, all done in the convivial spirit of the department, has laid the foundation for my subsequent academic success.”
Scientific Publications
Armisén D, Refki PN, Crumière AJJ, Viala S, Toubiana W, Khila A (2015) Predator strike shapes antipredator phenotype through new genetic interactions in water striders. Nature Communications 6:8153 (*Armisén D and Refki PN contributed equally to this work)
Refki PN, Khila A. (2015) Key patterning genes contribute to leg elongation in water striders. EvoDevo 6: 1-10
Santos ME, Berger CS, Refki PN, Khila A. (2015) Integrating evo-devo with ecology for a better understanding of phenotypic evolution. Briefings in Functional Genomics. elv003
Refki PN, Armisén D, Crumière AJJ, Viala S, Khila A. (2014) Emergence of tissue sensitivity to Hox protein levels underlies the evolution of an adaptive morphological trait. Developmental Biology 392: 441-453
Deena Gendoo graduated from the AUC Department of Biology in June 2006 with a double minor in computer science and chemistry. She then joined the Master of Research program (MRes) in advanced genetic analysis at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. From Africa and Europe, she moved to Montreal, Canada, to join the PhD program at McGill University. In 2012, she earned her doctoral degree in biology, with a graduate specialization in bioinformatics. Her thesis title was “Bioinformatic sequence and structural analysis for amyloidogenicity in prions and Other Proteins.” She held several positions in leading research institutes, including the University of Leeds, University of Cambridge and The American University in Cairo's Yousef Jameel Science and Technology Research Center.
Gentoo is currently a postdoctoral research fellow of bioinformatics in Toronto, Canada, working on a joint collaborative research project between the Ontario Cancer Institute of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the Hospital of Sick Children.
More About Deena
“My studies at the biology department have largely helped define my career path today," Gendoo says. "My biology professors first introduced me to the intricate wonders of DNA, cells and proteins, and opened my eyes to the worlds of molecular cell biology, molecular genetics and biotechnology. The combination of biology courses and wet lab experiments gave me great exposure to these fields and their widespread applications in biology and medicine. I was part of a warm family of dynamic professors that supported me to excel in the subjects I enjoyed, and their passion for science was both inspiring and wonderfully contagious.”
Peer-Reviewed Scientific Publications
- Gendoo DMA, Harrison PM (2012) "The Landscape of the Prion Protein's Structural Response to Mutation Revealed by Principal Component Analysis of Multiple NMR Ensembles." PLoS Computational Biology 8(8): e1002646. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002646
- Harbi D, Parthiban M, Gendoo DMA, Ehsani S, Kumar M, et al. (2012) "PrionHome: A Database of Prions and Other Sequences Relevant to Prion Phenomena." PLoS ONE 7(2): e31785. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031785
- Gendoo DMA, Harrison PM (2011) "Origins and Evolution of the HET-s Prion-Forming Protein: Searching for Other Amyloid-Forming Solenoids." PLoS ONE 6(11): e27342. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027342
- Gendoo, D. M. and Harrison, P. M. (2011), "Discordant and chameleon sequences: Their distribution and implications for amyloidogenicity." Protein Science, 20: 567–579. doi: 10.1002/pro.590
- Gendoo, DMA; El-Hefnawi, MM, Werner, M, and Siam, R. "Correlating novel variable and conserved motifs in the Hemagglutinin protein with significant biological functions." Virology Journal 5(91), 2008