Aljoharah Alaskar, MS

A native of the land of date palms, Saudi Arabia, Aljoharah received her bachelor's in Life Sciences from Alfaisal University in 2018. As an undergraduate, she investigated how ADRB2 signaling promotes chemotherapy resistance in colorectal cancer cells. Her findings won first and second place respectively at two poster competitions. After graduation, she continued her research as a teaching assistant and lab technologist, looking into other types of cancer. The outcome of Aljoharah's study, showing the importance of emotional stability for physical health, fueled her desire to support vulnerable individuals. That, coupled with her love for teaching, led Aljoharah to volunteer as a special education teaching assistant in an autism school and as a science and Arabic language teacher for stateless women in a homeless shelter. Thrilled to have found a career that balances the interpersonal and technical features, Aljoharah interned as a lab GCA and co-authored a paper on the significance of performing solo versus extended family analysis in consanguineous populations. It is her hope to bring a fresh perspective as a Muslim Arab to the genetic counseling community and help engage underserved and diverse populations in genetic services and research. In her spare time, Aljoharah enjoys stargazing, socializing, and watching documentaries. She is also a big fan of Jubilee on YouTube!

Master's Research (Capstone) Project: Experiential and religious factors associated with acceptability of prenatal testing among Muslim women in the United States: A cross-sectional study