Ibnat Meah

Having conducted some research in high school, I knew that I wanted to continue research at Penn. However, I was intimidated by the amount of opportunities and did not even know where to begin. With the guidance that the RPA program offered, I reached out to a number of PIs and eventually found myself in the Brown Lab. The Brown Lab studies how genome integrity is maintained during DNA replication and investigates how defects in these mechanisms impact age-associated diseases, and cancer risk and treatment. Currently, I am conducting CRISPR-Cas9 knockouts of various genes recruited to the replication fork following WRN depletion in cancer cells in an effort to develop more targeted cancer therapeutics.

As a current senior, I want to stress that it is never too late to get involved in research. During the spring of my junior year, I became very interested in the field of global health. For my last year at Penn, I will be joining the Global Health Center at CHOP on a project that aims to optimize pediatric emergency readiness in Emergency Departments and pre-hospital teams treating ill and injured American Indian and Alaska Native patients.

Research is an integral part of my time here at Penn and I would love to help others get involved in research too. Please feel free to contact me with any questions!

• Research Assistant, Eric Brown Lab, Department of Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, February 2022 - Present
• Research Assistant, Elizabeth Sanseau Lab, Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Indian Health Services (IHS) Hybrid Simulation Program at CHOP August 2024 - Present
• CURF Fall Expo, 2022
• PURM (Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program), Summer 2022