Couple finds a home at VCU to pursue research projects with personal meaning

By Grace McOmber
School of Medicine

Becoming a physician-scientist requires dedication, endurance and patience. The path to earning two doctorates stretches across passions and disciplines - and, in the case of Shady Azzam and Nada Nassif, across continents.

After completing medical school in their home country of Egypt, Azzam and Nassif decided to also pursue research, with the shared goal of becoming better physicians. Driven by personal connections to medicine, the married couple left everything behind last year and moved across the globe to Richmond to begin Ph.D. programs at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.

"We had heard about people leaving their home countries to study, but actually living it is different," Azzam said. "I believe it has widened our perspectives, and I feel like a different person now."

The road to research

Azzam and Nassif first met in 2020 while each was completing seven-year medical programs to earn their Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degrees, (MBBCh), the Egyptian equivalent of an M.D., and quickly connected over their mutual passions for medicine and science. They also shared a desire to enhance their degrees with research, and two years later, they were married and looking for international opportunities to pursue that dream together.

The couple considered graduate programs in Chicago and Washington, D.C., weighing the pros and cons of what each city offered their careers - and their growing family. They welcomed their son, Yahia, in 2024, and finding an inviting community to raise the now almost 2-year-old was a top priority for his parents. The couple said they found that community - and more - at VCU.

This year, more than 1,100 undergraduate and graduate students from around the globe make up VCU's international student body. As an R1 designated university, VCU offers funding, mentorship and research opportunities for doctoral students like Azzam and Nassif to make the most of their time at the School of Medicine.

"I had a mentor in Egypt that had trained at VCU and said how great it was," Azzam said. "Everyone, from the PIs to other students, has been so nice and welcoming. We feel very supported."

Uprooting their lives for their education hasn't been without its challenges. As native Arabic speakers, they both studied English before moving to the U.S., but adapting to life and education in a different language is still an adjustment. Coming from the bustling, desert city of Cairo, they've fallen in love with a slower pace of life in Richmond and enjoy taking Yahia to feed the farm animals at Maymont or for a picnic in Monroe Park. The family appreciates even the most mundane of daily differences, like the abundance of greenery and shade throughout the city.

"Even the streets are amazing," Nassif said. "It's not very crowded, and there are trees on both sides of the sidewalk. Going for walks here is very relaxing."

From personal to project

Azzam and Nassif enrolled through the Biomedical Sciences Doctoral Portal, which serves as an entry point for students pursuing a Ph.D. in one of six graduate programs at the School of Medicine. In their first year, BSDP students take courses and rotate through different research laboratories in one or multiple areas of interest. After selecting a Ph.D. program and dissertation laboratory at the end of the first year, students work on independent research projects and identify faculty members to serve on their graduate advisory committees. Students then spend an average of three more years focusing on their projects and preparing a dissertation.

"The BSDP fosters a cohesive and supportive peer network for incoming graduate students, regardless of their eventual choice of program," said Keith Shelton, Ph.D., assistant dean for doctoral recruitment and admissions. "We believe that the overall student experience, quality of our scientific projects and the value those projects can have to society is greatly enhanced by the unique perspectives that international students bring to VCU."

For Azzam, conducting biomedical research is deeply personal. He was in high school when his father died of liver cancer, which motivated him to become a doctor. Years later, when he was in medical school in Cairo, his mother died of gastric cancer.

Azzam, who finished medical school in 2021 and worked as a physician following graduation, said his clinical experience helps him identify gaps in patient care that he hopes to address at the molecular level in the lab of Devanand Sarkar, MBBS, Ph.D. In Sarkar's lab, Azzam will earn a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology and continue investigating a genetic target that could inhibit the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma - the most common form of liver cancer, and the one that took his dad's life.

"This is what motivates me to both treat patients and find new treatments," Azzam said. "I saw how much patients can decline and aren't able to do the same things, so finding better treatments is the mission that drives me every single day."

Nassif, an aspiring dermatologist, joined the lab of Brian Wattenberg, Ph.D., to pursue her doctorate in immunology and microbiology. There, she will continue to investigate better treatments for common chronic skin conditions, like dermatitis and psoriasis, using a 3D-reconstruction of the skin barrier. Like Azzam, Nassif's research also has personal roots. She has atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema, and when the condition was at its worst, she described feeling frustrated when months-long courses of treatment did little to alleviate her symptoms and discomfort.

"I suffered a lot when my skin flared up," Nassif said. "There are a lot of diseases in dermatology that are not as well understood as other conditions. Learning more about how the skin barrier is structured in patients with these conditions can help us find better treatments."

As they prepare to embark on their second year in the BSDP program, Azzam and Nassif said they are excited to dedicate more time to their fields of study. Wherever they end up after earning their degrees, the pair hopes to use their dual-doctoral training, both in the lab and the clinic, to leave a lasting impact on patients around the world.

"With research, you can make discoveries that can change the lives of so many people," Nassif said. "It lives beyond you."

This story was originally published on the School of Medicine website.