Azah Abdalla Mohamed defended her doctoral dissertation, “Cadmium Chloride-Induced MiroRNA Deregulation in Promoting Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness,” on October 16. She is a candidate for a doctorate in toxicology at UMES.
A native of Sudan, Mohamed has been in the U.S. for some 20 years and now resides in Salisbury. Her “concern for public health and risk management of human exposure to toxic compounds” led her to her research thesis.
Her bipartite research focused on the genetic differences that influence prostate cancer disparities between African Americans and European Americans and the cancer risk, regardless of race, due to environmental exposure to heavy metals.
“I validated the expression and functional roles of 10 specific microRNA molecules between African Americans and Americans of European descent using quantitative reverse transcription (RT –qPCR), western blot methods,” Mohamed said. “The results showed a difference in their expression affecting their functionality, which in turn, contribute to the aggressiveness of prostate cancer in African Americans.”
Mohamed also evaluated the risk of exposure to heavy metals, such as cadmium, in regulating microRNA and an increased risk of prostate cancer regardless of race. “The results of this part of my research showed that cadmium affects the cells’ viability, inducing proliferation of the cell and changing microRNA expression and their functionality,” Mohamed said.
“Azah’s research work provided evidence that microRNA dysfunction is a critical event involved in the process of Cadmium-modulated prostate cancer progression,” said Dr. Bi-Dar Wang, an assistant professor in UMES’ Pharmacy Program and Mohamed’s research advisor.
Mohamed holds a master’s degree from Penn State University’s School of Medicine and a bachelor’s degree from the Sudan University for Sciences and Technology. She would like to apply her education, knowledge and research to a federal job with the Environmental Protection Agency or the Food and Drug Administration.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media associate, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 410-621-3850, gcstephens@umes.edu.
