Undergraduate Student Eyes Research Career After Completing UHCOP Summer Research Fellowship 

Sept. 28 — Noor Zughaibi, a biology and biotechnology undergraduate student in the UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, said a summertime research fellowship at UH College of Pharmacy has solidified her future goals in scientific discovery.

Zughaibi recently completed the 10-week Asghar Memorial Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship, a mentored research program that provides selected students with little or no previous laboratory experience a $1,000 scholarship upon completion. The fellowship was established in 2019 in memory of late UHCOP faculty member Mohammad Asghar, who was a strong supporter of encouraging hands-on research at the undergraduate level to instill and nurture future investigators.

During her fellowship under UHCOP Associate Professor Bin Guo, Ph.D., Zughaibi worked alongside laboratory members in the development of an in vivo animal model of sepsis and testing of different drugs on pancreatic cancer cells, including observing the expression of glial-derived neurotropic factor family receptor α-like (GFRAL) protein that has been implicated in the growth and proliferation of cancer cells.

"This experience opened my eyes up to the world of research and helped me carve out my career goals," Zughaibi said. "I hope to one day pursue a career in research."