Cornells Ronald E. McNair Scholar, Mary Bellakbira

Maryam "Mary" Bellakbira is a Junior in the College of Agriculture and Life

Sciences pursuing an interdisciplinary bachelor's degree in Biotechnology

with plans to enter an MD/PhD program. Her research experience spans areas

of innovation and advocacy for social justice - including the United Nations

Foundation, NASA, and the Center for Proteomics and Molecular Medicine.

Driven by her passion for endocrinology and metabolic science, Mary

conducts innovative research in a protein engineering laboratory. There, she

engineers cell surfaces and develops new technologies to better understand

cell signaling pathways, with applications in cancer therapeutics and

metabolic disorders.