On February 6, 2025, the College of Pharmacy at Gulf Medical University hosted a research seminar delivered by Dr. Sarra Basheer Shakartalla, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Infectious and Anti-Infective Therapy Group at the University of Sharjah. The session was attended by faculty from the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department and students from the Master’s in Drug Discovery and Development program.
Titled “Identification of Novel Metastatic Breast Cancer Cell Metabolites”, the seminar focused on cancer cell migration and invasion, as well as the critical role of metabolites in cancer metastasis.
Dr. Sarra received a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Gezira, Sudan, where she was awarded a scholarship to pursue her Master’s in Pharmaceutical Technology. Recognized for her academic excellence, she received the Senate Prize. She later joined the PhD program in Molecular Medicine and Translational Research at the University of Sharjah through a research assistant scholarship. Her research focuses on the role of metabolites in cancer, and during her PhD journey, she published 11 articles in international peer-reviewed journals.
During the seminar, Dr. Sarra elaborated on methods used to identify novel metabolites secreted by breast cancer (BC) cells that significantly enhance cancer invasion and metastasis. She also discussed the mechanistic activity of these metabolites and how their levels differ in the plasma of breast cancer patients compared to healthy individuals.
The session concluded with an engaging discussion and Q&A session, where attendees explored the implications of her findings in cancer research and potential therapeutic advancements.