Healing Through Scientific Discovery
Dr. Ehab Sarsour
McCord Research Foundation Fellow, University of Iowa
Dr. Ehab H. Sarsour is a Research Scientist in the Free Radical and Radiation Biology Program at the University of Iowa, and the recipient of one of three inaugural McCord Foundation Fellowships.
A native of Jordan, Dr. Sarsour received a bachelor’s degree in applied biology (microbiology) and a master’s degree in immunology from Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in Irbid, Jordan in 1995 and 1999 respectively. He also received a professional post-graduate degree in biomedical analysis from Jordan University in Amman in YEAR. Most recently, Dr. Sarsor received a Ph.D. in free radical and radiation biology from the University of Iowa in 2006.
From 1995 to 2001, Dr. Sarsour was chief medical technologist and co-owner of Um El-Summaq Medical Laboratories in Amman, Jordan. He also served as a graduate research assistant in the Immunology Laboratory of JUST, as well as lecturer and teaching laboratory supervisor in JUST’s Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences. Following that, he was a graduate research assistant in the Free Radical and Radiation Biology Program at the University of Iowa. Most recently, Dr. Sarsour was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the same program from 2006 to 2008.
His awards and honors include: the JUST Graduate Students Scholarship; the Society of Free Radical in Biology and Medicine’s (SFRBM) Youth Investigator Award (2003 and 2006); SFRBM’s Travel Award (2004 and 2007); the Center of Aging Honorable Mention, Carver College of Medicine Research Week; and the Travel Award at the 13th International Congress for Radiation Research Meeting. He also received a five year Research Scientist grant to study Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and quiescent growth and its implications in wound healing.
Dr. Sarsour’s research interests include cell aging and the role of free radicals in wound healing. His research has been published in the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology, Cancer Research, Free Radical Biology and Medicine, Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, Aging Cell, and the Journal of Biological Chemistry, among other publications. He has also been invited to present at four of SFRBM’s annual meetings, as well as at The Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic and the American Professional Wound Care Association’s annual meeting.
Dr. Sarsour was a member of the Jordan Society for Medical Laboratory Sciences from 1994 to 2001. He is currently a member of the Society for Free Radical Biology and Medicine and the Radiation Research Society, and is a Fellow of the American Professional Wound Care Association.
Dr. Sarsour lives in Iowa City with his wife and son.
The McCord Research Foundation provides fellowships to post-doctoral researchers in the University of Iowa Biosciences Graduate School Program in the fields of Free Radical, Anatomy and Cell Biology.
Publications
Sarsour EH, Venkataraman S, Kalen AL, Oberley LW , Goswami PC (2008). Manganese superoxide dismutase activity regulates transitions between quiescent and proliferative growth. Aging Cell. 7, 405-417.
Menon SG, Sarsour EH, Kalen AL, Venkataraman S, Hitchler MJ, Domann FE, Oberley LW , Goswami PC (2007). Superoxide signaling mediates N-acetyl-L-cysteine-induced G1 arrest: regulatory role of cyclin D1 and manganese superoxide dismutase. Cancer Res. 67, 6392-6399.
Menon SG, Sarsour EH, Spitz DR, Higashikubo R, Sturm M, Zhang H , Goswami PC (2003). Redox regulation of the G1 to S phase transition in the mouse embryo fibroblast cell cycle. Cancer Res. 63, 2109-2117.
Kalen AL, Sarsour EH, Venkataraman S , Goswami PC (2006). Mn-superoxide dismutase overexpression enhances G2 accumulation and radioresistance in human oral squamous carcinoma cells. Antioxid Redox Signal. 8, 1273-1281.
Venkatesha VA, Venkataraman S, Sarsour EH, Kalen AL, Buettner GR, Robertson LW, Lehmler HJ , Goswami PC (2008). Catalase ameliorates polychlorinated biphenyl-induced cytotoxicity in nonmalignant human breast epithelial cells. Free Radic Biol Med. 45, 1094-1102.
Gao Z, Sarsour EH, Kalen AL, Li L, Kumar MG , Goswami PC (2008). Late ROS accumulation and radiosensitivity in SOD1-overexpressing human glioma cells. Free Radic Biol Med. (in press)
Abuharfeil N, Sarsour E , Hassuneh M (2001). The effect of sodium nitrite on some parameters of the immune system. Food Chem Toxicol. 39, 119-124.