Biology Senior Advances Cancer Research, Career Goals in Prestigious Summer Internship

Biology Senior Advances Cancer Research, Career Goals in Prestigious Summer Internship

As Nabaa Ali considered her options for the summer ahead of her final semester at The University of Toledo, she had her pick of prestigious research opportunities.

Ali, a senior studying biology and women's and gender studies with a minor in chemistry, had landed acceptances at several National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sites including the University of Michigan's Cancer Research Summer Internship Program, Johns Hopkins University's Summer Internship Program and two programs at the University of Chicago: its Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology Summer Program and its Pritzker School of Medicine's Pritzker School of Medicine Experience in Research.

It was a tough choice, she said, but she thinks she made the right decision in Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Molecular Imaging Summer Program in Manhattan.

"It's been fantastic," Ali said, speaking shortly before the recent conclusion of the 10-week program at what U.S. News and World Report ranks as the second-best cancer hospital in the United States. "I've been doing a lot of chemistry work, a lot of biology work. The program has been quite helpful in terms of helping me figure out what I want to do in the future, as well as just building those lab skills that of course are so important."

The REU program supports active research participation by undergraduate students in areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation. Designated sites across the country welcome intern cohorts each summer, with UToledo's Department of Physics and Astronomy among them in 2024.

Ali was one of 10 undergraduate students who participated in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Molecular Imaging Summer Program, where they've benefited not only from valuable bench-side mentorship, but opportunities to network with many of the center's leading scientists and physicians. In line with her interests in biomedical research, Ali worked alongside a postdoctoral researcher on a project related to radiopharmaceuticals for targeted diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Ali has a strong interest in biomedical research as it applies to the advancement of cancer therapies and aspirations to translate this work to the field of international public health. With plans to continue to medical school, potentially to pursue a combined M.D.-Ph.D. program, she's interested in ultimately exploring therapies that are not only effective but also accessible and affordable in developing nations - a goal she in part credits to her childhood experiences in Libya and participation in medical missions to Honduras and Guatemala.

Ali was 13 years old when her family immigrated to Sylvania in 2016. She began enrolling in courses at UToledo shortly after through the state's College Credit Plus program, which allows students to begin taking college courses while still in high school and allowed her to earn an associate degree from UToledo even before her diploma from Toledo Early College High School in 2021. Ali said the research opportunities and welcoming environment she found on campus enticed her to enroll as a full-time student at UToledo.

She's since enjoyed participating in Relay for Life at UToledo, through which she led a team of more than 30 students in raising money for patients and cancer research at the American Cancer Society. Ali was also quick to join the research laboratory of Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata, a professor in UToledo's Department of Biological Sciences.

Garcia-Mata studies Rho GTPases, a family of enzymes that control many aspects of cell behavior, with a particular eye toward their role in cancer progression. Under the mentorship of Garcia-Mata, Dr. Silvia Goicoechea, a research associate professor, and several doctoral students, Ali has specifically been researching SGEF-mediated regulation of tight and adherens junctions.

"Junctions serve as the 'glue' between cells and their environment," Ali said. "It is important to understand how they are regulated as their downregulation has been linked to cancerous metastasis."

Garcia-Mata speaks highly of his undergraduate researcher.

"Nabaa has impeccable work ethic, and she's also curious and ambitious and always looking for new opportunities to expand her horizons," Garcia-Mata said. "I'm excited to see where she takes this research at Sloan Kettering Memorial."