Abdel Fouda, B.Pharm., Ph.D., (Principal Investigator)
Dr. Fouda joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in July 2021. A pharmacist and translational scientist, Dr. Fouda received his Ph.D. in 2015 from the University of Georgia, College of Pharmacy. Dr. Fouda’s predoctoral work helped to define the neurovascular protection from stroke provided by the renin-angiotensin system. These studies were recognized by awards from the American Heart Association, International Stroke Conference, and other professional organizations.
As a postdoctoral fellow at MCG’s Vascular Biology Center, his research on neuro-inflammation included models of traumatic optic neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, and the role of macrophages in retinal ischemia-reperfusion injury and protection by arginase 1. The latter studies are the focus of a prestigious K99/R00 Career Development Pathway to Independence Award that Dr. Fouda received from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Fouda has published more than 35 original manuscripts and looks forward to collaborating with investigators at the Jones Eye Institute and across campus.
Esraa Shosha, B.Pharm, Ph.D., (Assistant Professor)
Dr. Shosha is interested in studying neurodegenerative diseases of the retina. Dr. Shosha got her Ph.D. with distinction from Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA. Her predoctoral work was supported by an American Heart Association fellowship. She then worked as postdoctoral fellow for four years before joining UAMS. Dr. Shosha authored several research and review articles in the field of retinopathy.
Rami Shahror, M.Sc., Ph.D. (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Dr. Rami Shahror holds a doctorate in Neural Regenerative Medicine from Taipei Medical University, Taiwan, and a Master of Science in Medicine degree and a Master of Science degree in Molecular Medical Biology from Orebro University, Sweden. He is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, in the College of Medicine at UAMS. Prior to this role, he has held positions as Research Fellow at The Shock, Trauma and Anesthesiology Research Organized Research Center (STAR-ORC), School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA. He contributed to a number of neurotrauma projects investigating the development of a genetically modified stem cell therapy for traumatic brain injury. He has authored or co-authored several articles in peer-reviewed journals in the field of neuroscience. Dr. Shahror is a fellow of the Society of Neuroscience (SFN) and National Neurotrauma Society (NNS).
Christian D. Mitchell (Graduate Student)
Christian has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in biochemistry and a master’s from Texas A&M University in biomedical science. Her research at UCA primarily focused on methods of expression and purification of an intrinsically disordered protein. Christian’s research at Texas A&M was in comparative immunogenetics and evolutionary immunology studying tissue architecture in sharks as well as antibody sequences and structure in bovine. She also worked for a biopharmaceutical company that was working on creating alternative cancer therapies prior to coming to UAMS. She is currently a Ph.D. student in Dr. Fouda’s lab in the Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Experimental Therapeutics track.
Carol Morris, B.S. (Graduate Student)
Carol Morris is a graduate student in the neuroscience track of the graduate program for interdisciplinary sciences (GPIBS). She earned her bachelor’s degree in general biology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Carol has a background in translational multiple myeloma research. She is currently focused on immune response in retinal ischemic neurodegeneration.
Melissa Wild, B.S. (Research Tech)
I am originally from Veracruz, Mexico and due to a tennis scholarship I was able to attend college at Northeastern State University and graduated in May 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry. During undergrad, I was fortunate to be exposed to research and studied oxidant stress in diabetic retinopathy and developed a 3D model of a capillary cross-section. After college, I worked at Harvard as a Research Assistant for a year at the D’Amore lab studying the role of Endomucin in retinal vascular development and briefly the role of epigenetic reprogramming on Age Related Macular Degeneration. I am an aspiring genetic counselor, and I am fortunate enough to be in Dr. Fouda’s Neurovascular protection lab to learn and study the central nervous system injury in retina and brain.
Bushra Zaman (Graduate Student)
Bushra is a graduate student with an undergraduate degree in pharmacy from Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has previous experience as an undergraduate research assistant in neuropharmacology, specifically synaptic neurodegeneration in aging-associated dementia/movement disorders. Bushra joined the Fouda lab to expand her horizons and include broader aspects of neuropathology-affected disorders. She aspires to gain experience in ocular and neurovascular disorders in the academic field as the years progress. During her spare time, Bushra likes to paint.
Seif Abdelnaem
(SURP student)
Seif joins the lab from University of Central Arkansas. He is supported by the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP). Seif’s passion lies in understanding the research process and exploring how the concepts studied in the lab are practically applied beyond its confines. Seif’s long-term goal is to go to medical school.
Pooja Modi
(Medical student)
Pooja is an M2 student. She is participating in the Honors in Research Program through the College of Medicine. Pooja’s goal is to get more research experience, especially research that is medicine focused. Pooja is leaning towards Emergency Medicine at this time; however, she has not even rotations yet, so this is very likely to change once she experience different specialties.