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Profiles of Doctorate Dissertations
Research Relevance and Potential Impact
Cancer is now the second leading cause of death worldwide and the third in UAE after
cardiovascular diseases and injuries (i.e. traffic accidents) and is recognized as a major
healthcare problem. The control of this disease and development of novel therapies benefits
enormously from studying the basic mechanisms of gene regulation. With the experiments
applied in this research, we are bringing new technology and know-how to conduct cutting-edge
basic research in the field of Molecular Biology in the UAE. This opens excellent opportunities
for training of local students to participate and should be beneficial for many new future studies
in various areas. Thus, the practical and potential for applications of this research project are
enormous.
Relevant Publications
• Chalissery J, Jalal D, Al-Natour Z, Hassan AH. Repair of Oxidative DNA Damage in
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (2017). DNA Repair 51:2-13. doi: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2016.12.010.
Career Aspirations
During my PhD, I studied about the role of chromatin remodelers in DNA damage repair
pathways and I wish to use this knowledge and my skills in molecular biology to unravel
cellular mechanisms that lead to cancer development and progression with the hope of better
understanding this debilitating disease and development of new targeted drug therapies to
fight it. This could be achieved by continuing my career in research as a postdoctoral fellow
initially followed by a position as an independent investigator.