Injy El-Dib is a senior concentrating in Biomedical Engineering on the Pre-medical track and a member of the Shukla Lab. 

A commuter student from Foxborough, Massachusetts, Injy is currently working on her Honors Thesis in BME. Injy’s research centers on developing an alternative to antibiotics since bacteria often become resistant to antibiotics over time. She works on conjugating antimicrobial peptides to the surface of gold nanoparticles as a potential alternative treatment for bacterial infections.

Injy has worked in the Shukla Lab for several years. She has contributed to the lab’s work as a volunteer, summer Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award recipient, and through an independent study. 

Outside of the lab and her BME coursework, Injy has taken full advantage of interdisciplinary opportunities. In the past four years, she has taken classes in anthropology, public health, political science, and journalism. 

After Brown, Injy hopes to work as a medical doctor. She plans to use the knowledge she’s gained in her time studying BME to advance medical research and create devices and instruments suited for serving patients in low-resource settings.

Why Brown?

Injy chose Brown “for its interdisciplinary and very flexible approach to its curriculum.” While Injy applied for BME, she knew she wanted to explore other pathways as well. Coming to Brown enabled her to take courses across subject areas, applying those skills to her work in BME.

“Having a journalism background really helped me be able to write my research and science in a way that was accessible to the general public,” she said. “I think the other side is humanizing the work that we do.” Her ANTH0300 Culture and Health class “did a great job of showing you the person behind the work that you’re doing … you get connected to the impact that your work will hopefully have.”

In her BME Capstone class, students from the Rhode Island School of Design came in to help students with their designs. Injy said this brought a “fresh eye” to her work. “The groups that have RISD students often come up with really inventive and really cool designs that … we wouldn’t have seen ourselves.” 

Injy said she’s stayed at Brown because of the spirit of collaboration embodied by every student. “The people at Brown that I’ve met have honestly been some of the most wonderful people,” she said. Injy said no one has ever said “no” when she’s asked for extra help or notes from a missed class. “People have been really open and welcoming.”

In the Lab

Having worked in the same lab for several years, Injy has developed strong relationships with Professor Anita Shukla and Senior Research Associate Akram Abbasi. 

“Professor Shukla spends time to meet with her many undergrad students,” Injy said. “She wants to hear about what your goals are and how she can help.” This level of support surprised Injy. “I expected the wet lab, pipetting, and the general day-to-day lab work. But I didn’t expect this professional development type of work that Professor Shukla does.”

Abbasi has supported Injy by encouraging her to question everything. “She’s done a great job at nurturing my independence as a researcher,” said Injy. “I can see a big difference in my confidence in the lab and just as a researcher” since freshman year. 

“It’s honestly been really cool to find a lab that is invested in your success.”

Beyond the personal connections Injy has built in the labs, she loves that “Brown’s labs are decked out. We have a lot of resources and a lot of really cool high-tech instruments and technology. Things that there’s only a couple of them in the world, but one of them is here.”

In her research, Injy takes advantage of her lab’s peptide synthesizer, which she describes as quick, automated, and creative. With it, “you basically can make any sequence of peptides that you want, which opens up so many doors.”

Exploring the Providence Community 

Injy strongly believes in the importance of getting off campus and finding community in Providence. Her work at the Miriam Hospital Emergency Department is “one of the main ways that I’ve been able to connect with the Providence community.”

While she’d love to see more engagement from the Brown community with folks in Providence, she said, “Brown has been trying to improve its relationship with the Providence community. I think we’re on the right path.”

This Spring semester, Injy took a Community-based Learning and Research course centered on multilingual education. In small groups, students were paired with community organizations to support their work. Working with Parents Leading for Educational Equity, she’s used resources available at Brown to “help those community members reach the goals they’ve set.”

Finding Balance

Outside of class and the lab, Injy likes to keep busy. She tutors ENGN0040 and Arabic and previously tutored with Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring and Enrichment. She strongly believes in the importance of “someone taking the time to teach you something” in a “way that makes sense.” 

She also plays Club Volleyball, crochets, writes for The Brown Daily Herald’s metro section, serves on the executive board for the BME Society, and bakes. Over the summers, she has worked in the Martinos Lab in Boston and shadowed doctors at Mass General Hospital.

For Injy, having so many activities outside other schoolwork allows her to have “different outlets.” Playing Club Volleyball is dedicated time to “turn my mind off.”

How does she balance it all? To Injy, having a support system is everything. 

Managing her busy course load, labwork, and extracurricular schedule has been possible because of  “the group of people I’ve met throughout my time at Brown.”