Born and raised in the beautiful vibrant Cairo, Egypt, I developed a strong interest in molecular biology, human disease, and therapy development since I was at high school. I received my bachelor’s degree from the School of Pharmacy, Cairo University. My work experience is versatile, starting in a pharmaceutical company, followed by working in a leading clinical research company, then working at the American University in Cairo as a research/teaching fellow while completing my Biotechnology master’s degree. My master’s thesis focused on the investigation of the COBRA1 protein in liver cancer, and I also worked on generating primary liver tumour cultures. I moved to the UK in 2018 to pursue my research career, and joined the Anderson lab to work on an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) study aiming to perform single cell RNA-sequencing of gut biopsies from Crohn’s disease patients as well as healthy donors. Outside the lab, I am a mom of a little clone of myself. Known to be the “social glue” among family and friends, I love arranging get-togethers and game nights. If I ever consider to retire from scientific life, I would definitely want to be a chef. I am also interested in reading, going to the cinema, traveling, and doing activities such as hiking, snorkelling and diving.
