SHREVEPORT – Hobbies come in all shapes and sizes, but academic chemistry research rarely makes the list.
But for LSUS public health major Ahmed Ghazawneh, chemistry research is right up his alley.
The junior participated in the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network summer program and presented at the summer conference at LSU Baton Rouge on Aug. 1.
“I took a chemistry class with (Dr. Henry Nkabyo) this past fall, and I connected with him,” Ghazawneh said. “He said he saw potential in me and through I would do great in this field and in research.
“So I joined his research team in January, worked with him through the spring, and applied for this summer program.”
Ghazawneh’s research with Nkabyo does have some biological and medical potential.
The pair combined certain organic compounds and attached to these molecules to different metals. These molecules have potential benefits in the making of medicine as they could combat bacteria, fungi, or even cancer cells.
“(Nkabyo) said these compounds have had biological importance in the past and wanted to research and learn more about them,” Ghazawneh said. “It’s still very much in the works, but we were able to recover three crystal structures through X-ray crystallography, which is known to be hard to do.
“They show promising activities that they may be good anti-bacterial agents, and we want to connect with the biology department to conduct further biological experiments.”
Ghazawneh conducted the research at LSUS instead of opting for the summer residency in Baton Rouge, and he thoroughly enjoyed his experience.
“I loved the experience and that I can feel comfortable stepping outside of my main subject to do chemistry research,” Ghazawneh said. “This was above and beyond what I thought I could do, and it’s opening up new possibilities and new resources here at LSUS and at LSU.”
Ghazawneh isn’t rushing to the registrar’s office to change his major though.
He said chemistry research is a hobby as he’s nearing the completion of a public health degree with dreams of becoming a physical therapist.
“I’ve always wanted to go into the medical field, and physical therapy caught my eye at the (Allied Health Education and Discovery Program at LSU Health Shreveport) when I attended between my junior and senior years of high school,” Ghazawneh said. “I’ve enjoyed learning how the natural healing process works as opposed to being treated just with medicine or rushing into surgery to fix an issue.
“It’s how our ancestors healed. They did certain exercises and massages and different techniques to get back to their normal day-to-day processes.”
Ghazawneh’s interest in the medical field was sparked not long after arriving in Shreveport from his native Palestine during his junior year of high school.
The Captain Shreve High School graduate said he had to adjust quickly to the American education system.
“It was a shock, just a different type of education system and the different types of classes you can take,” Ghazawneh said. “But I worked hard to get where I am right now.
“There is connection between the chemistry research and public health, and I might do more research into therapeutics and how we heal from disease and illness. While the process of conducting the research may not be very similar, the end goals of keeping people healthy are similar.”
