Elaf Ghoneim talks helping people, loving science, and pursuing a career in medicine in the Beckman Friday Feature.
Recent University of Kentucky graduate, Elaf Ghoneim, was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. Her family, originally from Libya, established a tight-knit, community-oriented home that emphasized the importance of service and advocacy. This upbringing cultivated her self-assuredness and instilled a deep sense of purpose, nurturing her two great passions: helping people and a love of science. Ghoneim aspires to pursue a career in medicine, where she hopes to make a meaningful impact in her community.
“In terms of service, my parents are my biggest role models and have always encouraged me to give back to my community,” shared Ghoneim, who studied neuroscience and pharmacology senior year, seeking to cultivate her passions and see where they would lead. “I never considered conducting my own research past middle school science fairs. It wasn’t until I learned just how much there was still to discover that I truly recognized it as a possible career. After my first experience in a lab studying cancer, my passion for scientific research and growing curiosity spurred me to find my next placement and motivated me to apply for the Beckman Scholars Program.”
Ghoneim’s Beckman-funded research took place in the lab of Dr. Linda Van Eldik and involved the study of the brain, Alzheimer’s disease, and its associated inflammation. Alzheimer’s disease is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States and the most common cause of dementia among older adults. There is no cure; current treatments focus on slowing progression of the disease. The lab developed a small molecule drug compound, MW151, that was found to suppress abnormal neuroinflammatory responses and protect the nerve cells. The mechanism of action of the drug, however, was still unknown and past experiments raised the possibility that modulation of cellular metabolism could be involved in curtailment of inflammatory responses. Ghoneim aimed to explore that possibility by testing the hypothesis that MW151 exerts anti-inflammatory effects via inhibition of induced glycolysis known to occur in myeloid cells in response to inflammatory activation. Her own description of the project: Challenging, but invigorating. Understanding the mechanism of action of MW151 could help maximize the odds of clinical success and spur the development of additional compounds that are efficacious not just for Alzheimer’s disease, but also for other neurodegenerative conditions.
Read more: https://ow.ly/eNPk50U2LEC
University of Kentucky
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