Southwestern Professor of Chemistry Publishes Landmark Research Contributing to the Understanding of Genetic Instability and Human Disease
After more than a decade of work, Southwestern Professor of Chemistry Maha Zewail-Foote has published monumental research into how certain DNA structures are more susceptible to damage, leading to genetic instability and diseases like cancer.
Southwestern University Garey Chair and Professor of Chemistry Maha Zewail-Foote is celebrating a major scholarly milestone. Following more than a decade of research, she is the first author of landmark work providing new insight into the mechanisms that contribute to genetic instability and human diseases, including cancer.
“This research is my heart and soul and sweat,” Zewail-Foote said. “This project was technically difficult. To do the experiments and figure everything out was incredibly complex. There were many moving parts, and it required a combination of different techniques, methods, and a great deal of trial and error.”
A nucleic acid chemist, Zewail-Foote specializes in the study of H-DNA, a three-stranded DNA structure distinct from the well-known double helix. Her research demonstrated that genomic regions capable of forming H-DNA are particularly susceptible to oxidative DNA damage and may contribute to mutations linked to cancer.
“When people hear ‘cancer research,’ there are many different levels at which scientists study the disease,” Zewail-Foote said. “My work focuses on DNA itself. Many diseases, including cancer, are driven by changes in DNA that can arise from how damage forms and how cells process and repair that damage.”
While all DNA is susceptible to damage due to various age-related and environmental factors, the human body is usually adept at repairing damage as it occurs. Collaborating with a research team at the University of Texas in Austin, Zewail-Foote found that H-DNA accumulates more damage as compared to double-helix DNA.
“DNA damage can occur throughout the genome, but certain DNA sequences and structures appear to be more vulnerable or more difficult for cells to repair efficiently,” she said. “When damage persists in these regions, it increases the likelihood of mutations. Over time, the accumulation of those mutations can contribute to disease development.”
Zewail-Foote’s work was recently published in Nucleic Acids Research, a top journal in the field showcasing leading-edge discoveries. Her work, titled “Oxidative damage within alternative DNA structures results in aberrant mutagenic processing,” has contributed to existing understanding and provided new insight into the mechanisms underlying genetic instability and human disease. In March, she traveled to Washington, D.C. to present her findings to the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
“When a publication and an organization like this recognizes how impactful the work is, that makes it all worth it,” she said. “You always know you’re on the right path when the work is so hard. When nothing is working and nothing is straightforward, that’s when you know you’re pushing the boundaries, and I feel like we’ve done that.”
Zewail-Foote has had a passion for science from a young age. En route to earning her bachelor of science in chemistry with honors from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), she took a course on the bio-organic chemistry of nucleic acids, taught by a pioneer in the field of nucleic acid chemistry. She points to that experience as what sparked her interest in studying DNA, ultimately pushing her to earn a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Texas, where she studied how an anti-cancer drug targets DNA and its mechanism of action. It was also during her time in graduate school where Zewail-Foote found a passion for teaching after volunteering to mentor a young undergraduate student.
“It was awesome. I loved teaching her how to work in the lab,” she said. “I didn’t just say ‘here’s a technique, go do it.’ Instead, I focus on the why — ‘why are we doing this?’ and ‘what is the hypothesis?’ With my students, I want them to understand every step — the why, the how, and the what behind the methods. What makes it work? How do we draw conclusions? How do we communicate those results? I just love that part.”
After earning her Ph.D., Zewail-Foote jumped into education with a desire to teach at a small, liberal arts school. Still living in Central Texas, she discovered that Southwestern was hiring for an assistant professor of chemistry for the fall of 2003. Zewail-Foote was instantly drawn to the way the University encourages professors to be true teacher-scholars by supporting faculty research. After learning about Southwestern’s interdisciplinary Paideia approach to a liberal arts education, she was sold.
“You always know you’re on the right path when the work is so hard. When nothing is working and nothing is straightforward, that’s when you know you’re pushing the boundaries, and I feel like we’ve done that.” — Garey Chair and Professor of Chemistry Maha Zewail-Foote
“Science has to be interdisciplinary,” she said. “You cannot tackle a true problem unless you bring in collaborators, people with unique ideas, perspectives, techniques, methodologies, and training. Southwestern embodies that. When we are presented with a question, we say ‘how are we going to solve it?’”
Zewail-Foote was promoted to associate professor in 2009 before earning rank as a full professor in 2013. Today, she holds the Garey Chair in Chemistry and regularly teaches courses in chemistry and biochemistry. In her lab at Southwestern, she engages students in her research on how DNA structure influences damage and repair using molecular and biochemical approaches.
“I feel like I was born for this. I have always liked teaching, and I have always liked research,” she said. “They’re a part of who I am.”
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Zewail-Foote has excelled in her career by blending cutting-edge research with world-class teaching. Both of her parents are chemistry professors and her dad, Ahmed, was the sole recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
“My parents instilled in me the importance of learning, the importance of knowledge, and the importance of curiosity,” she said. “My dad really instilled the idea of loving what you do. He loved his work. He loved every aspect of doing research, science, and his students. I feel like I’m the same way. I love what I do. I love teaching. I love when I see students have that spark in their eye when their curiosity results in digging deep into understanding things.”
With his award, Ahmed Zewail became the first Arab to win a Nobel Prize in science. In 2011, he founded the Zewail City of Science, Technology, and Innovation in Egypt, a science hub that includes a university, a technology park, and research institutes.
“Zewail City was a major part of his vision — a university in Egypt to spark curiosity, dedicated to science and innovation,” Zewail-Foote said. “My dad and I have the same shared belief of the importance of education and what we want to instill. Not memorizing, but truly learning and understanding, and thinking across disciplines.”
In 2010, Ahmed Zewail was awarded an honorary degree from Southwestern shortly before delivering the University’s commencement address. As his legacy continues to inspire students in Egypt, on the other side of the world, his daughter is doing the same at SU. With summer research projects ramping up, Zewail-Foote is working with students to advance her recent discoveries surrounding H-DNA.
“There’s always more to discover,” she said. “Even for a Nobel Prize winner, the work is never done. My dad kept going and so do I.”
Southwestern University published this content on May 26, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on May 26, 2026 at 16:03 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]
