Experience Summary
My name is Fatima Khwaja Rehman and I have a Ph.D in Genetics and Molecular Biology from Emory University, Atlanta, Ga. Following the completion of my PhD in August 2006 I worked in Pakistan for the following three years (until June 2009) as a Jr. Research Scientist at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center in Pakistan (SKMCH&RC) and as a visiting faculty member at the School of Science and Engineering at Lahore University of Management Sciences. SKMCH&RC is a unique non-profit cancer hospital and research institute that is run completely on charity money. My work there included setting up the research facility and training of research technicians, students and associates. I gave weekly seminars and lectures in continuing medical education (CME) program for the radiation and oncology residents. I also worked with other physicians and researchers at the hospital to develop a "Cancer Awareness Program" for educating patients, their family members, and the general public about cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment options. Additionally, I had an independent lab where we examined biomarkers for monitoring cancer treatment efficacy in breast and oral cancers. This project was partially funded through the seed grant provided by the institute and partially through a small grant I acquired through the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF).
Earlier my dissertation research in Dr. Erwin G. VanMeir’s lab at Emory University involved understanding the tumor microenvironment through identification and characterization of factors secreted during the process of gliomagenesis and led to four first author publications in addition to my several outside collaborations. I moved to Jacksonville in 2009 for personal reasons, and am now looking for a full time teaching position. In the meantime, I have been teaching at Florida State College at Jacksonville as an adjunct faculty.
I am particularly interested in a position at a department that values teaching. As you may note from my C.V, I have been deeply involved in curriculum development and teaching in the biology department of the School of Science and Engineering at Lahore University of Management Sciences in the last three years. At present, I am an adjunct faculty at Florida State College at Jacksonville, teaching Anatomy and Physiology since August 2010.
While at Emory University, I took every opportunity to teach while at Emory University, and I have also participated in various educational projects outside of the university environment. In addition to being a grader and teaching assistant in several undergraduate and graduate level biology courses (introductory biology, genetics, cell biology and cancer biology) at Emory, I also worked as an instructor in the biology department teaching introductory biology laboratory to freshman during my final year in the Ph.D program. Earlier during my third year as a graduate student, I received a National Science Foundation teaching fellowship (PRISM) to develop and teach science case problems in K-12 classrooms using problem-based learning approach. As an undergraduate, I had also been involved in several K-12 science teaching opportunities using problem-based learning. Furthermore, during the final year of my graduate studies, I designed and co-taught a proteomics workshop for researchers interested in using proteomic technologies in their work and have given several invited tutorials/ lectures in the field of proteomics. Finally, I supervised and trained multiple undergraduate and graduate students that came through the laboratory where I was completing my Ph.D research.
I am interested in a job where I have the opportunity to work one-on-one with students in a personalized academic environment to help them evolve their future personal and professional paths through multi-disciplinary teaching and research. In addition, I want to be actively involved in the development and advancement of the department’s undergraduate courses and curriculum using a more multi-disciplinary and problem based learning approach.