Egyptian medical students work with top researchers in US

It requires precision, time, patience and the flexibility to try new approaches when one experiment proves inconclusive.

These insights into research on the cusp were offered by Egyptian medical students at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) during the Third Annual Medical Student Research Forum, early November.

Nancy Zaki and Amira El Sherif described projects they worked on at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and its affiliate, the Rockefeller University, during the past summer, when they joined the labs of top investigators in the fields of breast cancer and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

The research experience enabled them to practice a range of lab techniques, join in the daily activities of the teams - and enjoy life in Manhattan, where the Medical College is located.

Although a rarity for students in the Middle East, exposure to research is an important part of the learning experience at Cornell University, and its Medical Colleges in New York City and Doha, Qatar.

"It's important to have this kind of chance," said Nancy Zaki, who is from Cairo. "I want to be a clinician in the future, and I knew that before going to the US to do research; I went because I wanted the experience itself, to learn new methods and meet new people in the field."

Learning the techniques

Zaki's research in the field of breast cancer - the most prevalent cancer among women in Egypt - focused on an enzyme (sphingosine kinase) that has been shown to be over-expressed in colon and ovarian cancer.

Hypothesizing that it could play a part in the development of breast cancer, she homed in on the enzyme's role in the proliferation of cells in a primary tumor, and in paving the way for the cancer to spread (metastasis).

Although her results were not conclusive, Zaki said she gained significantly from her work at the bench, designing primers, doing RT-PCR*, and learning the technique for extracting RNA.

For Amira El Sherif, an Alexandrian who graduated in biology from the American University in Cairo, this was her second contribution to WCMC-Q's Research Forum. Last year, she presented a poster of her undergraduate research, an ecological study carried out in the Red Sea area.

While there are some "constants" in research methodologies, her project this year had a distinctly clinical emphasis, she noted.

Throwing light on a mystery

The curious thing about El Sherif's chosen subject of investigation (IPF) is how little is known about it. Investigating a disease of unknown origin, with no effective treatment, was a journey into new territory.

The team set out to discover if what has been learned about a different condition that affects the heart could apply to this fibrosis of the lung.

They focused attention on mast cells, which release renin in reaction to inflammation.

"The lab team took what they got in 2004 about mast cells and the heart, and extrapolated it to the lung," she explained. "Since they showed that mast calls release renin in the heart, we now think that they might be releasing renin in the lung as well. That could play a role in IPF."

Although the project is in its early stages, her research achieved "qualitatively encouraging results." She came away with the satisfaction of having learned a lot about biomedical research and made a contribution to research that could help patients in the future.

Background to the summer research program

In 2003, WCMC-Q sent its first group of pre-medical students to work with researchers at Cornell's main campus in Ithaca. Since then, the summer research program has become well established, with increasing numbers applying for fellowships. It is now open to medical students and those who have completed the two-year Pre-medical Program.

This past summer, 17 medical students from the Classes of 2009 and 2010 were selected by competition from the approximately 130-strong student body to travel to the US on research fellowships funded by WCMC-Q.

One group worked at Cornell's main campus in Ithaca, and the other at the Medical College in New York. Areas of investigation ranged from ventricular fibrillation ** to lung disease, with the majority in the field of molecular biology.

The program has been a great success, said Dr. Gary Schneider, Senior Associate Dean for Research at WCMC-Q: "I keep hearing from both the Ithaca and New York City professors how engaged and motivated the students are. Their work ethic is unbelievable, and they produce so much as a result of their level of interest and their motivation from being given such an opportunity."

This year, a further two students joined in a groundbreaking investigation into gene expression and lung disease, conducted between Weill Cornell in New York and Doha, and Qatar's Hamad Medical Corporation.