Hammad Laboratory News

Group picture at 13th Sphingolipid Club & 10th International Ceramide Conference in Cascais, Portugal, May 6-10 2019 
Taken May 2019 at the 2019 FEBS special meeting on Sphingolipid Biology: Sphingolipids in physiology and pathology. The 13th Sphingolipid Club & 10th International Ceramide Conference; Cascais, Portugal, May 6-10 2019, Hotel Pestana Cidadela. Dr. Hammad (right) with several worldwide friends and collaborators. In the center, the world-known couple: Yusuf Hannun and Lina Obeid (may God bless Lina’s soul; she contributed tremendously to the field and passed away in November 2019).
Dr Hammad and student Jasmyn Hardin from Dominican University, IL. 
Taken June 2018. Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) student Jasmyn Hardin from Dominican University, IL. Jasmyn is studying the association of circulating sphingolipids with disease activity indices in patients with systemic lupus erythematous. MUSC Catalyst report.
Dr. Hammad and student Jonathan Low from Anderson University, Greenville, left, and visiting MD student Faris Matanis from Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan 
Taken August 2017. Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) student Jonathan Low from Anderson University, Greenville, left, and visiting MD student Faris Matanis from Jordan University of Science & Technology, Jordan, right. Both worked on the role of plasma sphingolipids in regulating renal cell function in diabetic nephropathy.
Dr. Hammad with two of her students, Olanike Awontunde and Dhruw Maisuria 
Taken July 2015. Summer students Olanike Awontunde (University of Maryland-Baltimore County), left, and Dhruw Maisuria (Governors School for Science and Mathematics), right; Olanike was co-mentored by Dr. Reaves and Dhruw was co-mentored by Dr. Twal, both co-mentors are in the Department of Regenerative Medicine.
Dr. Hammad with Dr. Titus Reaves and Olanike Awontunde 
Taken August 2015. University of Maryland-Baltimore County student Olanike Awontunde, center, with Drs. Titus Reaves, left, and Samar Hammad. MUSC Catalyst report.
Visiting MD student Haneen Saeed Alja’bari from Jordan University, Amman 
Taken September 2015. Visiting MD student Haneen Saeed Alja’bari from Jordan University, Amman, Jordan was hosted by Dr. Hammad and did several laboratory rotations in the laboratories of Dr. Cowart, Dr. Ogretmen (Biochemistry), Dr. C. Kern, Dr. Twal, Dr. Hammad (Regenerative medicine) and did a clinical rotation in Endocrinology with Dr. Sam Kwon.
Olanike Awontunde presenting her poster at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Seattle, Washington 
Taken November 2015 at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Seattle, Washington, Olanike Awontunde presenting her poster: The Role of Scleraxis in Neutrophil Activation; she received FASEB MARC Travel Award.
Dr. Hammad co-chaired with Dr. Roger Sandhoff at the 8th International Ceramide Conference and Jad El Abiad from Hammad’s laboratory and MD student at the American University of Beirut. 
Dr. Hammad co-chaired with Dr. Roger Sandhoff, University of Mannheim, Germany the session Sphingolipidomics in the 8th International Ceramide Conference (iCC) and the sphingolipid Club Joint Meeting May 6-10, 2015, Izmir, Turkey (top). Jad El Abiad from Hammad’s laboratory and MD student at the American University of Beirut (right in bottom photo) presented a short talk and a poster on deoxy-sphingolipids and diabetic neuropathy in Type 1 diabetes; next to Jad is Mohammed Dany, MD, PhD student from Dr. Ogretmen’s laboratory at MUSC.
Dr. Regina Benjamin, Former Surgeon General of the United States visited MUSC on April 15, 2015 talking with MUSC women scientists 
Dr. Regina Benjamin, Former Surgeon General of the United States visited MUSC on April 15, 2015 and gave a talk entitled My Life–My Story. Dr. Regina Benjamin also visited with leaders from WSI and ARROWS and shared her valuable experiences with them (top). Next to Dr. Regina Benjamin in the bottom photo are Dr. Hammad, Dr. Magruder, and Dr. Mauldin.
Dr. Hammad posing with faculty members of the MUSC Inaugural Chapter of the National Academy of Inventors on January 21, 2015. 
Dr. Hammad inaugurated among 52 faculty members to the MUSC Inaugural Chapter of the National Academy of Inventors on January 21, 2015 (top). Hammad’s United States Patent No. 6,846,636 B1 is for the invention “METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR HDL HOLOPARTICLE UPTAKE RECEPTOR”, Argraves et al., issued 1/25/05; MUSC Reference No. P9846.
Dr. Hammad posing with members attending the 2nd International Workshop on Molecular Medicine of Sphingolipids, Kloster Banz, Germany, September 16-19, 2014. 
Dr. Hammad at the 2nd International Workshop on Molecular Medicine of Sphingolipids, Kloster Banz, Germany, September 16-19, 2014. This international event was organized by Dr. Tony Futerman, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel; Erich Gulbins, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; Richard Kolesnick, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States; Toshiro Okazaki, Kanazawa Medical University, Ishikawa, Japan; and Josef Pfeilschifter, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
Dr. Hammad posing with Dr. Edward Botchwey, Ph.D., Georgia Tech, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Atlanta, GA. 
Dr. Hammad hosted Dr. Edward Botchwey, Ph.D., Georgia Tech, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Atlanta, GA as the Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology seminar guest speaker on April 16, 2014. Title of Dr. Botchwey’s talk was Harnessing Sphingolipid Signaling and Metabolism for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.