CPS Grad Spotlight - Raneem Akel

Name: Raneem Akel

MSc or PhD Candidate: PhD Candidate

Location of Undergraduate Education: HBSc. University of Toronto Scarborough

Name of the Lab at CPS: Shin Lab

Selected Awards: Mitacs Research Training Award

Selected Research Contributions: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=MP9-QMkAAAAJ 

Raneem, please tell us about yourself and your journey as a PhD Candidate!

How did you come to UTM? What interested you to join a lab here?

In undergrad, I double majored in Human Biology and Chemistry. I loved both fields equally and wanted to further my understanding in them. UTM had a lot of interesting research in biological chemistry and Dr. Shin’s work particularly drew me in. Her work with recombinant proteins (or what we like to call Frankenproteins) and directed evolution seemed to be very interesting, which is why I decided to join her lab at UTM.

When did you realize that you wanted to pursue a graduate study?

Throughout my undergraduate studies, I took up many teaching opportunities that I particularly enjoyed. However, it wasn’t until my fourth year that I considered pursuing a teaching career when I helped a class raise average from D to B- (an accomplishment that I am very proud of!). 

I also enjoy problem solving and discovering new things, which further enhanced my desire to enter the academia world.

What are your research interests? Tell us few exciting things about your research.

I am currently working with a few recombinant proteins designed in our lab. Those proteins have a wide variety of applications including therapeutics and synthetic biology. My main project revolves around a Frankenprotein, which we call HinZip, that looks like a plant protein but has the elements of mammalian and bacterial proteins. It has been a fun challenge to merge my knowledge of all those different organisms to improve our design of HinZip. I was ecstatic when HinZip worked the way I wanted it to, and all the different hurdles started to make sense!

Do you have any advice for students considering to pursue graduate studies in research?

Don’t get discouraged, I know research can be frustrating and seems hopeless sometimes. But don’t give up, talk to people who are not in your lab. We have an amazing department that is very talented, although people might have completely different research trajectories, they are great in helping you think outside of the box and brainstorm solutions that you might not have thought of before.

Also, use the opportunities available. There are many grants and workshops available to help you develop your soft skills, look into them early on to make the most of them. Talk to your supervisor about your goals and dream career. They will have great advice on how to best achieve them and will introduce you to opportunities that you might not come across otherwise.

Lastly, have fun. I know it might seem hard at times, but it is important to take a step back every once in a while and enjoy what you have. You will come back with a clearer mind and a new view on things.