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Nadija Abu Samra
Nadija Abu Samra Research Assistant

Contact Information
nadija.samra@ku.ac.ae

Biography

Nadija Abu Samra is a BSc Biotechnology degree holder from University of Sharjah, UAE, and also holds a MSc degree in Molecular Medicine from University of Reading, UK. She served as a research assistant in the Biotechnology Center (BTC) at Khalifa University under the supervision of Dr. Habiba Al Safar, and worked on investigating the genetic association of coronary artery diseases in type 2 diabetes mellitus in UAE subjects. During her MSc, she investigated the pathogenesis of LRRK2 gene in Parkinson鈥檚 disease with Dr. Kevei at University of Reading. Miss Nadija also holds a clinical experience as she worked as a lab technologist at Mafraq Screening Lab for Covid-19.


Education
  • MSc, Molecular Medicine, University of Reading (2019)
  • BSc, Biotechnology, University of Sharjah (2016)


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Research
Research Interests

Research Topics:

  • Parkinson鈥檚 disease
  • Coronary Artery Disease
  • Diabetes

Research Projects:

  • 鈥淎ssociation between genetic variants at chromosome 9p21 and risk of coronary artery disease in Emirati Type 2 Diabetes patients鈥�. Five of the most investigated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 9p21 locus were genotyped in Emirati subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to assess their effect on the risk of coronary artery disease. Was done in BTC, Khalifa University.
  • 鈥淭he role of LRRK2 in the pathogenesis of Parkinson鈥檚 disease.鈥� The effect of LRRK2 (the most common genetic cause of Parkinson鈥檚 (PD)) was assessed on dopaminergic and chemosensory neurons using its ortholog LRK-1 in C. elegans. Its effect on PD-associated mechanisms such as macro-autophagy was also studied. This was carried out in the school of biological sciences, University of Reading.
  • Currently working on 鈥淚ntegrated Approach to Study Gestational Diabetes Mellitus using Clinical, Epidemiological, Genomic, and Biomarker data in the UAE population鈥� under Dr. Wael Osman鈥檚 supervision. The project aims to identify genetic polymorphisms in the UAE population that either predispose to or protect from GDM, as well as Identifying biomarkers that can be used to predict GDM in the UAE population. Taking place at Khalifa University.