Six NYU Abu Dhabi postdoctoral researchers are heading to New York this summer as part of the Global NYU Postdoc Collaboration Grant. Now in its third year, the program pairs participants with NYU faculty mentors for three weeks of intensive collaboration, skill-building, and access to advanced research facilities before they return to Abu Dhabi.
“By providing access to cutting-edge facilities and fostering cross-campus collaboration, the program allows postdocs to elevate their research in ways that wouldn’t be possible otherwise,” said Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs Sunil Kumar. “The outcomes have been remarkable, and this year’s cohort is our most academically diverse yet.”
Amaria Javed
At NYUAD’s Center for Quantum and Topological Systems (CQTS), Javed works with Professor Hisham Sati on quantum sensing using NV-Diamond hardware. In New York, she’ll collaborate with the Director of the Center of Quantum Information Physics (CQIP), Javad Shabani, to access equipment unavailable at CQTS. The hands-on experience will enhance her experimental techniques and deepen her research insights.
Xuejian Chen
Chen, from the Sand Hazards and Opportunities for Resilience, Energy, and Sustainability Center (SHORES), studies geotechnical numerical modeling for tunneling engineering under Associate Professor Rita Leal Sousa. In New York, he’ll work with Professor Magued Iskander, a tunneling expert at NYU Tandon. “Professor Iskander is a leading expert in tunneling engineering. His expertise will provide valuable insights and experimental validation opportunities for my numerical simulations,” said Chen, who is also excited to explore NYU’s geotechnical labs and iconic New York sights.
Dineshkumar Krishnamoorthy
Based in the Evolutionary Genomics Lab with Professor Stephane Boissinot, Krishnamoorthy investigates the evolution of mesquite trees, which are ecologically important and economically associated with human societies but have complicated systematics. In New York, he’ll team up with Silver Professor Michael Purugganan, an expert in evolutionary and ecological genomics of plant adaptations and the genetics of plant domestication. Together, Krishnamoorthy hopes to refine genome assembly techniques and build a robust bioinformatics pipeline for population genomics analysis, essential for addressing the challenges posed by the repetitive and heterozygous nature of plant genomes, particularly in mesquite trees.
Imane Morjane
Morjane, from the Public Health Research Center, works with Associate Professor Youssef Idaghdour on genetic risk factors in UAE populations. Her research work focuses on the genetics and genomics of the UAE populations and its relationship with disease risk. She’ll collaborate with Associate Professor Fernando Hugo from NYU College of Dentistry, a specialist when it comes to processed and ultra processed food and its relationship with health outcomes, and align her nutritional data with lab assessments on processed food and disease risk. “It’s my first time in New York — I’m also looking forward to exploring the city with my fellow postdocs,” she said.
Stefania Victorita Vacaru
Vacaru, from the Representations of Early Experiences Lab (REEL), studies the stress system’s development in early attachment contexts with Associate Professor Theodore Waters. She’ll partner with Assistant Professor Courtney Filippi at NYU Grossman School of Medicine to learn MRI data processing, preprocessing, study design and data analysis to better investigate the emergence and modulation of the stress system from a neurobiological perspective in the context of early attachment relationships.
Waqas Waheed
Waheed works in the Advanced Microfluidics and Microdevices Laboratory (AMMLab) under Associate Professor Mohammad Qasaimeh. Waheed’s research focuses on isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and analyzing how they communicate with other cancer cells during disease progression using signaling proteins called cytokines. At NYU Tandon, he’ll train with Professor Katsuo Kurabayashi to learn cytokine profiling of single CTCs, offering deeper insight into how cancer cells communicate during progression.
