Dr. Rahaf Issa

Research Associate

TEAM

BIO

Rahaf obtained a BSc degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Brighton in 2012. During her studies, she was awarded two academic excellence scholarships. In 2015, she completed her PhD in Microbiology at the University of Brighton, which investigated the therapeutic potential of peptide dendrimers for the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infections. During her PhD, she also undertook a placement at the G. Eliava institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology in Georgia. In 2016, Rahaf began a post-doctoral research associate position in the Department of Infection and Immunity at the University of Sheffield Medical School, where she studied the role of eukaryotic cell surface proteins, namely tetraspanins, in infection. She developed tetraspanin-targeting peptides in this project, and validated their efficacy as novel antimicrobials in skin and cornea models of infection. During this time, Rahaf established various international collaborations, such as that with Prof Jayanta Haldar, JNCASR (India), and travelled multiple times to India to provide training in creating infection models to new researchers. In 2019, she joined the Department of Pharmacy and Optometry at the University of Manchester, on a project that aimed to model diabetic foot infections in vitro.

Rahaf joined the Nanomedicine Lab in May 2021 as a post-doctoral research associate in the Nano-Cell Biology team. Her primary focus is to develop advanced in vitro models, pulmonary co/tri cultures as well as lung organoids, for 2D nanomaterials testing, and contribute to the research effort of the EU Graphene Flagship project.