Heba Al Khamici
Postdoctoral Fellow
UTS helped me to gain more research skills to solve bigger science problems.
Degree you studied including major
Bachelor of Science (Pharmacology) and Doctor of Philosophy (2015)
What exactly does your work/job entail?
My role is to undertake high level of scientific research in order to uncover the function of our unique and newly discovered proteins/enzymes in some type of cancers such as the skin cancers. Also I am involved in other research projects such as looking at the molecular mechanisms of skin cancer cell division and growth.
What part of your work inspires you the most? Why do you find it interesting?
Skin cancer is one of the most prevalent and of high spread cancer in the world and in particular in Australia. Therefore, it was very important for me to understand the underlying mechanisms of its development and study the possibility of preventing it or stop its progression. It was an amazing opportunity for me to link my newly discovered protein function, the enzymatic function of the highly conserved chloride intracellular ion channel (CLIC) proteins to the skin cancer, as they have been speculated to be biomarkers for the diagnosis of early stages of some types of skin cancers.
How did you get to your current role?
I submitted my PhD thesis for examination at the end of 2014. At the beginning of 2015, I was offered to work as an Associate Lecturer at the School Of Life Sciences at UTS Science, with Associate Professor Stella Valenzuela in collaboration with Professor Bruce Cornell from Surgical Diagnostics Pty, Ltd in Sydney. I joined the NIH in Washington in early May, 2016 and am currently the only Australian researcher working there.
Do you find the skills you learnt during your degree useful and versatile? If so how?
Yes of course. UTS helped me to gain more research skills to solve bigger science problems, which prepared me to take on bigger roles, like my current position at the NIH.
