Yusra Nadeem

Background

About Yusra Nadeem

I am currently a first year graduate student at University of Texas, Austin earning a doctor of philosophy in toxicology. I recently graduated from University of California, Berkeley where I received a dual degree in BioE and Nutritional Sciences/Toxicology. My undergraduate research experience was primarily spent in a toxicology lab where I explored the extent to which chronic arsenic exposure and a high fructose diet act to induce liver injury, followed up by a mechanistic analysis to elucidate the affected metabolic liver pathways. During my sophomore year summer, I volunteered at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center where I worked to discover potential DNA adducts to serve as biomarkers for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and obesity induced hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition, during my junior year summer, I interned in the toxicology department at Merck where I studied the potential use of Hepatocyte and Kupffer cell-derived exosomes as early novel biomarkers for immune mediated drug induced liver injury. My research experiences were critical in inspiring my interest in drug development and desire to utilize my lab skills and work with others to make a positive difference in the world, motivating me to apply to UT Austin's PhD program. Outside of toxicology research, I am passionate about working with kids! Throughout college, I served as a volunteer at Children’s National Medical Center, was a camp counselor for Camp Kesem, participated in a program called BEAM where I taught local Berkeley Unified School District kids fun science lessons and engaged them in hands-on experiments, and earned my elementary education teaching certificate. I am currently rotating under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Gore at UT. In the future, I hope to work in the pharmaceutical industry and help develop drugs in order to provide a better future for those who need it.