Samar Rezq

University of Mississippi Medical Center, Department of Pharmacology

Dr. Samar Rezq is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). She got her B.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2005 and M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2010 from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Egypt. She earned her PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, NC, USA, in 2016. Her PhD project involved investigating the potential roles of central GPR109A and the prostanoid EP3 receptor in cardiovascular regulation using in vivo and in vitro models. Her postdoctoral research at UMMC focused on the part of microRNA-21 in metabolic derangements in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine disorder in reproductive-age women; the role of obesity in microbiome, energy balance, and bile acid signaling in PCOS; and the role of microRNA-21 in energy balance. Dr. Rezq's current research elucidates the specific signaling pathways involved in PCOS-associated renal injury. 

Eman Soliman

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology

Dr. Eman Soliman is a research scientist in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). Her primary research interest is modulating the innate immune response to mitigate detrimental effects following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Her investigations are centered on elucidating the role of efferocytosis, the clearance of apoptotic debris, as a neuroprotective signal during the acute phase after brain trauma, before the initiation of maladaptive immune responses.