Postdoctoral Associate
University of Iowa
Weam Shahin, M.D., PhD. is an associate at the department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa. Dr. Shahin received his M.D. from school of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt in 1998 while on a governmental scholarship. He completed his internship in 2000 at Menoufia University Hospitals and Clinics. He got his M.Sc. from school of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt in 2004. His research focused on effects of Vitamin C to mitigate the histological effects of endotoxemia on cardiac muscle. From 2000 to 2008, Dr. Shahin taught at school of medicine Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt. Dr. Shahin received his Ph.D. from The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa in 2015. Weam pursued post-doctoral research in cystic fibrosis and airway regeneration at the department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Center for Gene Therapy, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.
Current research interests include: (1) Studying the differences between the two airway stem cell niches: basal stem cells (BCs) and submucosal gland myoepithelial cells (GMECs) and their response to changes in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA damage. (2) Dissecting the mechanisms of Wnt and Lef-1 regulation of self-renewal and differentiation profile of airway stem cells. (3) Novel approaches to enhance the airway fluid and mucous balance including directing the differentiation of MECs towards formation of ionocytes or other airway epithelial cell types. This approach will be beneficial to CF patients on CFTR modulators. (4) Uncovering the intermediate MEC daughter cells that develop into ionocytes and using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to dissect the downstream targets of Lef-1.