Natsheh is One of Only Three So Honored

Joman Y. Natsheh, M.D., a graduate student in the Rutgers University, Newark, Behavioral and Neurosciences (BNS) Ph.D. program, has been selected as one  of three  2013 Research Fellows by the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO).

The IBRO Research Fellowship program aims to foster neuroscience research, especially in less well-funded countries, by providing support to high quality neuroscientists from diverse geographic and scientific areas who wish to broaden the scope of their training in neuroscience by working abroad in high-quality laboratories.

Natsheh, currently a Newark resident, is a graduate of the Al-Quds University Medical School in the West Bank Palestinian Territories and is currently active in an international cooperative research and educational exchange between Rutgers-Newark and Al-Quds University (funded by the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health and Fogarty International Center), as well as with programs sponsored by the IBRO Middle East and Northern African (MENA) committee.

Her award of 35,000 Euros (approximately $43,000) will support her research on the genetic and behavioral bases of neurological and psychiatric disorders, with special reference to developmental and juvenile forms of cognitive dysfunction.  She is training with Dr. Mark A. Gluck, professor of neuroscience at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience (CMBN) at Rutgers-Newark.

Robynn Rockstad-Rex, IBRO director of programs and communication, states, "In addition to Joman's academic achievements, the panel was impressed with the glowing recommendations from her supervisors at Al-Quds University (Palestinian Territories) and the enthusiastic support of her host scientist, Mark Gluck, at Rutgers University.  It is our hope that Joman will not only personally benefit from the work and connections made during her time at the Rutgers Memory Disorders Project at Rutgers University-Newark, but that she will also leverage her experiences and contacts to enhance the quality of her team's research projects once she returns to Al-Quds University."

"Joman is uniquely qualified to pursue clinically-relevant translational neuroscience research," explains Gluck. "Her planned dissertation studies will include both animal and human research done at Rutgers University-Newark (in collaboration with several different faculty mentors here), as well as ongoing clinical and behavioral genetics studies in the West Bank.’  He notes, “Joman is playing a key role in the Rutgers/Al-Quds Brain Research Exchange program and, through this, helping Al-Quds University create an independent Palestinian Neuroscience program. She exemplifies not only the global origins of Rutgers-Newark students, but also their increasing global impact."

 

For more information:

IBRO Press Release:
http://ceerc.ibro1.info/Pub/Pub_Main_Display.asp?LC_Docs_ID=5559

IBRO Newsletter with story on Joman and photos of her on page 2 and back cover
http://www.scribd.com/doc/115916837/IBRO-News-2012.

RUTGERS/Al-Quds Brain Research Exchange:
http://www.gluck.edu/alquds/

Al-Quds University Cognitive Neuroscience Lab:
http://neuroscience.med.alquds.edu

Dr. Gluck's lab web page:
http://www.gluck.edu