Nasser Yousef came to UCF as an undergraduate biomedical sciences major, unsure if he would pursue a career as a physician or a scientist. Today, as a Ph.D. candidate at the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, he has dedicated himself to medical research because he says scientific discovery can impact patients worldwide.
He presented his research at the Burnett School’s spring Graduate Research Symposium, taking first place for his findings on how acute viral infections differ from persistent viral infections, with a goal of developing better therapies to treat them.
“I’ve always had an interest in infectious diseases and how to combat them since they’re an ongoing threat and we need to stay one step ahead of them,” Yousef said. “I hope my research provides the scientific knowledge necessary to develop effective therapeutics.”
This year’s presentations included the effects of cancer drugs on the heart, mapping the stomach to better understand abdominal pain and a DNA analysis of patients with rare genetic diseases. The event’s goal is to better prepare young scientists to present their findings to peers, funding agencies and potential employers.
“This symposium is like a real-world scientific conference. You have to be prepared to present and answer questions from experienced researchers,” said Jackie Zhao, a biomedical sciences professor and organizer of the symposium.
Each fourth-year Ph.D. student and second-year M.D./Ph.D. students required to present research at the symposium, but less senior Ph.D. candidates can be invited if faculty judge their research to be stellar. That was the case of third-year Ph.D. student Eugene Baffoe, who placed second in the competition for a study on new insights into how T-cells protect us against influenza.
In the months leading up to the presentation, graduate students compile their reserch data, create a presentation and write their abstracts. After their presenting, students answer questions from Burnett School faculty, who, in addition to teaching, conduct research in areas including cancer, neurodegenerative and infectious disease.
Zhao said he is seeing a trend of more graduate students like Yousef who are focused on using their scientific studies to improve patient care. “Every student is thinking about the problems they can solve and the cures for diseases,” he said. “They usually have a family member, or someone in their lives who suffers from an illness, and they want to contribute to research that helps people.”
Yousef examined the immune system to understand how the body struggles to fight persistent infections. When our bodies are infected with a virus, the immune system sends proteins called C’ to destroy the virus and infected cells. Because acute cells are sensitive to C’, they are destroyed by the protein quickly. However persistent infections are almost completely resistant. Yousef analyzed the cells and found that the persistently infected cells had a 10-fold increase in vitronectin, a gene that resists C’.
His study provides valuable insight into how persistent infection cells resist the immune system, opening the door for future researchers to develop therapeutics.
As he completes his Ph.D., Yousef is working in the lab of Griff Parks, who directs the Burnett School and is a nationally recognized virologist. They are researching the body’s immune responses to Paramyxoviruses, which are responsible for many diseases in humans and animals, including measles, mumps and respiratory infections
Ph.D. candidate Jonatas Rolando presented his research on how a common drug used to treat leukemia causes harm to the patient’s heart. He said they prepared him for the next step he’ll face in his career.
“Presentations and conferences are a big part of being a scientist,” he said. “The most important thing in science isn’t the papers you publish, but how you bring the knowledge and info to society so they can use it to discover new things.”
Event Awardees
1st Place: Nasser Yousef | Mentor: Griffith Parks
Topic: Complement-Mediated Lysis Differs Between Parainfluenza Virus Acute Versus Persistently Infected Respiratory Tract Cells
2nd Place: Eugene Baffoe | Mentor: Kai McKinstry
Topic: The absence of direct type I interferon signaling in CD4 T cells responding to Influenza A virus suppresses their Th1 identity independent of STAT1 expression levels.
Audience Choice: Ethan Hass | Mentor: Cristina Fernandez-Valle
Topic: “A Personalized Medicine Approach to NF2-related Schwannomatosis Drug Repurposing: Targeted Investigations on a Pediatric Paraspinal Schwannoma”
