From Beirut to D.C.: Wayne State student advocates for the sciences

Growing up in Beirut, Lebanon, Mohamed Chakkour excelled in school. He graduated from high school with honors and his teachers had a lot of opinions about what he should pursue in college: engineering, medicine, political science, journalism-the list goes on. But his parents, particularly his father, wanted him to become a doctor.

"I thought, I love my dad," Chakkour said. "I don't want to put him down."

So he chose biology with plans to go to medical school. He was in his first year at Lebanese University when his father had an accident.

"He went to the hospital and was in and out of surgeries. I really got to experience what it's like being in a hospital and realized pretty quickly that medicine is not my thing," Chakkour said. "I can't be in emergency rooms. I can't handle all the blood and the huge responsibility of patients relying on me."

But biology, where he was learning about the complexities of cells that make up the human body, he liked.

"In order to not disappoint my father, I told him, 'I'm not going to be a medical doctor, but I'm going to be another kind of doctor. I'll get a Ph.D.'"

Chakkour graduated with his bachelor's and continued on to the American University of Beirut where he earned his master's.

"It was the first time I got to do bench work in a lab. It was a really rewarding experience to have a question and be able to conduct an experiment to find the answer. It's what got me interested in research."

He took a break from coursework and became a school teacher while completing a research assistantship at AUB. Two years later, he said, it was time to leave his comfort zone and begin the Ph.D. Not wanting to complete the Ph.D. where he earned his master's, Chakkour looked toward the United States.

"The U.S. is the top leader in the science world and I'd been here plenty as a tourist. I decided I wanted to live the American way while pursuing my degree."

It was coincidently around this time that Hanaa Hariri, Ph.D., assistant professor in biological sciences at Wayne State University and AUB alumna, sent a flyer to the biology department at AUB about open graduate student positions at Wayne State.

Chakkour reached out to Hariri and she encouraged him to apply. He applied to a number of universities in the U.S., but no others in Michigan, and ultimately chose Wayne State.

"Michigan is an incredibly rich research environment," he said, "and Detroit is an interesting city, there's always something going on."

He did a number of rotations in labs at the university and ultimately chose the lab of Miriam Greenberg, Ph.D., studying how mammalian cells regulate the synthesis of inositol, an essential sugar molecule for normal cell metabolism in the brain, Chakkour said.

His research interests don't stop at molecular biology. He's pursuing the dual Ph.D. in biological sciences and urban sustainability in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

"When I first heard about the degree, I thought it sounded interesting but I didn't really know what urban sustainability was." So he did some research and discovered "it's basically building sustainable and eco-friendly cities while minimizing harm to the natural environment."

The interdisciplinary aspect appealed to him.

Science policy in D.C.

Chakkour was scrolling on social media when he came across a post from Science-Policy Network Detroit President and fellow biological sciences student Emma Fidler. Fidler was searching for students who would be interested in going with Sci-Pol on their annual trip to Washington D.C. when members of the Wayne State body sit down with politicians to advocate for the sciences.

He expressed his interest and joined the cohort.

"It was an amazing experience to be in the ultimate place of decision-making," Chakkour said. "I talked about the importance of funding science in the U.S. and attracting talent through my own story; I came here because the U.S. is the leader of the scientific world and stressed our desire for it to remain that way. I highlighted that other countries like China are working hard on their scientific development and are now competing with the U.S. I mentioned the importance of science in creating jobs and improving the economy."

Chakkour said he's hopeful for the future of science in the U.S. That he has reason to be.

In July, Congress didn't approve the budget cuts for the NIH proposed by the federal government for the fiscal year and instead increased funding for the NIH by $400 million.

"It brings total funding up to $48 billion, which is a win for science and highlights the impact of advocacy. People like me can raise their voices and there is still someone there to listen."

Words of advice

Chakkour is the current president of the Biological Sciences Graduate Student Association. He is a Rumble Fellow and was recently granted the Graduate Service and Teaching Assistant awards for excellence in leadership and teaching by the biological sciences department.

He said the best advice he can give students is to get involved.

"Volunteer. Attend events. Enjoy your graduate years, because time flies, and one day you'll graduate and look back at the friends and networks you've made. Get to know people. Ask about their work. Everyone loves to talk about their work. Above all, take it easy and keep smiling."