Dr. Arwa Kohela
Assistant Professor
Faculty Office Ext.
3052
Faculty Building
UB1
Office Number
362
Biography
Dr. Arwa Kohela received her BSc degree with honours in Biotechnology from the Faculty of Science at Cairo University in 2011. Having developed a great interest in the field of molecular biology, she then moved to the Netherlands for her postgraduate studies. She was awarded the Radboud UMC St fund and RSP scholarships to perform her MSc degree in Molecular Mechanisms of Disease at Radboud University. She then joined the Hubrecht Institute to start her Ph.D. in Molecular Cardiology and obtained her degree in 2022 from Utrecht University.
Dr. Kohela’s work focuses on studying different aspects of cardiac remodeling during genetic and ischemic heart disease. This involves the use of human stem cell-derived cardiac cultures, mouse models, CRISPR-mediated genome editing, and single-cell RNA sequencing technologies to understand the mechanisms of heart disease and identify key factors for therapeutic intervention. She worked on multiple collaborative projects and her work was published in several high-impact journals.
She presented her work at multiple international conferences and received prestigious awards at the International Society for Heart Research Meeting (Amsterdam, 2018), Heart Failure Association Winter Meeting (Les Diablerets, 2019), Dutch-German Joint Meeting of the Molecular Cardiology Working Groups (Gottingen, 2019), and Translational Cardiovascular Research Meeting (Utrecht, 2019).
Furthermore, research findings of her main PhD project allowed the identification of a novel gene involved in the progression of a detrimental genetic heart disease, for which a European patent (PCT/ EP2020/051489) entitled “TFAP2 inhibition for treating cardiac disease involving fibro-fatty replacement” was filed in 2020.
Since September 2022, Dr. Kohela has joined Nile University as an Assistant Professor at the School of Biotechnology, where she established the basis for genetic engineering and stem cell-related courses. Dr. Kohela is also working with the school members on the preparation of the Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine (OPPM) program funded by ERASMUS. This is the first diploma and master’s program in Pharmacogenomics in Egypt, that has a world-class curriculum revised by renowned European universities and will be available to graduates of medicine, pharmacy and biotechnology in Egypt and Lebanon.
Dr. Kohela’s work focuses on studying different aspects of cardiac remodeling during genetic and ischemic heart disease. This involves the use of human stem cell-derived cardiac cultures, mouse models, CRISPR-mediated genome editing, and single-cell RNA sequencing technologies to understand the mechanisms of heart disease and identify key factors for therapeutic intervention. She worked on multiple collaborative projects and her work was published in several high-impact journals.
She presented her work at multiple international conferences and received prestigious awards at the International Society for Heart Research Meeting (Amsterdam, 2018), Heart Failure Association Winter Meeting (Les Diablerets, 2019), Dutch-German Joint Meeting of the Molecular Cardiology Working Groups (Gottingen, 2019), and Translational Cardiovascular Research Meeting (Utrecht, 2019).
Furthermore, research findings of her main PhD project allowed the identification of a novel gene involved in the progression of a detrimental genetic heart disease, for which a European patent (PCT/ EP2020/051489) entitled “TFAP2 inhibition for treating cardiac disease involving fibro-fatty replacement” was filed in 2020.
Since September 2022, Dr. Kohela has joined Nile University as an Assistant Professor at the School of Biotechnology, where she established the basis for genetic engineering and stem cell-related courses. Dr. Kohela is also working with the school members on the preparation of the Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine (OPPM) program funded by ERASMUS. This is the first diploma and master’s program in Pharmacogenomics in Egypt, that has a world-class curriculum revised by renowned European universities and will be available to graduates of medicine, pharmacy and biotechnology in Egypt and Lebanon.
Achievements
- Best poster award at the 3rd Translational Cardiovascular Research Meeting, Utrecht, The Netherlands (2019)
- Best poster award at the 17th Dutch-German Joint Meeting of the Molecular Cardiology Working Groups, Gottingen, Germany (2019)
- Young investigator award at the Heart Failure Association (HFA) Winter Meeting, Les Diablerets, Switzerland (2019)
- Best poster award at the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR) Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2018).
European Patent:
- Kohela A and van Rooij E (2019) TFAP2 inhibition for treating cardiac disease involving fibro-fatty replacement. Patent #PCT/EP2020/051489
Scholarships:
- Radboud Scholarship Programme (RSP) Scholarship, The Netherlands (2011).
- Radboud University Medical Centre Study Fund, The Netherlands (2011).
Research Tracks
- Molecular Biology
- Molecular Cardiology
- Genetic Engineering
- Stem Cells