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Quick Look
• Graduated with a BS in Medical Laboratory Technology from American University of Beirut
• Graduated with a MS in Clinical Laboratory Science from Wayne State University
• Currently a sixth-year student in the PhD Program
The major attraction for me here is the diversity of expertise offered by the faculty at the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics. This concentration of talent represents a wide range of research interests, which translate into projects that span the gamut in terms of objectives within the field of modern molecular biology and genetics. I am currently pursuing research interests in the areas of molecular biology and neuroscience. In the future, I hope to graduate, obtain a postdoctoral position, and eventually become a professor carrying out research in my own university lab.
Research Interests
Advisor: Dr. Gregory Kapatos
Defining the C/EBP Transcriptome in the Mouse Nervous System
We first propose to investigate the cellular distribution of C/EBP, C/EBP and C/EBP expression in the mouse brain using double label immunohistochemistry and double fluorescence in situ hybridization. Consequently, we propose to identify target genes regulated by these C/EBPs using ChIP-Seq. Gene targets of C/EBP, C/EBP and C/EBP identified by this technique will be validated using quantitative real-time RT-PCR and chromatin immunoprecipitation. We expect these studies to show that C/EBP, C/EBP and C/EBP are expressed within anatomically distinct sets of cells, although co-localization is a possibility, and predict varying degrees of overlap between target genes regulated by C/EBP, C/EBP and C/EBP. To address the question of cellular specificity, target gene abundance will be anatomically mapped back onto the C/EBP C/EBP and C/EBP expression pattern in the mouse brain using double fluorescence in situ hybridization. Ultimately, we expect to relate established and novel C/EBP C/EBP and C/EBP target genes with cellular processes previously shown to be involved in neuronal plasticity.
Awards and Recognitions
First Place in Oral Presentation at the Graduate Student Research Day 2007 (GSRD) at the Wayne State University School of Medicine
Selected Publications
1. Kfoury N, Kapatos, G. Discovery of C/EBP Target Genes in PC12 Cells and Validation in the Rat Brain. Manuscript in process. (2008).
2. Amjad M, Kfoury N, Cha R. Cryptococcus neoformans. Encyclopedia of Medical Genetics and Proteomics. (2005)
3. Amjad M, Kfoury N, Cha R. Real-Time PCR Techniques in the Laboratory Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases. Res. Adv. in Microbiology 5, 47-52. (2005).
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