Education

I acquired my higher education at the American University of Beirut, the tope University in the Middle East with a MAsters in Science Biology Track, then embarked on the PhD program at the University of Toledo, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences. I then went on into a post doctoral training fellowship with Dr. Surya Nauli, who had just joined the University of Toledo, Department of Pharmacology coming from Harvard Medical School. After spending five years in Dr. Nuali's lab at the College of Pharmacy, I was promoted to a Research Assistant Professor and then to a Visiting Assistant Professor in 2013 before I became a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Teaching

I am currently a full Graduate faculty member. My teaching at the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences include teaching Pharmacology course series in the PharmD track as well as in the Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) track. I also teach in both the Master and PhD programs at ther Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. In my lab I mentor PhD, MS, Undergraduate and Preprofessional students. Please see our CV for a detailed teaching Portfolio.

Research

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD), affecting 1 in 500 individuals, is the most commonly occurring genetic disease arising from dysfunction of primary cilia (ciliopathy) due to mutations in Pkd1/2 genes encoding for polycystin-1 (PC1) and -2 (PC2), respectively.  Although PKD is a systemic disease hallmarked by fluid-filled kidney cysts, cardiovascular complications are the leading cause of death among PKD patients.  PKD patients are more likely to develop hypertension and congestive heart failure. A primary cilium is a mechanosensory organelle that extends from the apical membrane of a cell to the lumen of blood vessels and kidney tubules. We and others have independently studied abnormality in primary cilia, cell proliferation and polyploidy in the vascular and renal systems in PKD. We propose cilia as a fluid sensory organelle required for sensing fluid shear stress within the cardiovascular and renal systems. Please see our CV for a detailed research Pertfolio.