Resilience Built On Opportunity
Serving as a mentor for young scientists
Serving as a mentor for young scientists
As a Chancellor’s Science Scholar, Dalal Azzam ’22 had the opportunity to delve head-on into diabetes research after gaining interest in the subject while in grade school. However, Azzam occasionally found herself discouraged with her workload. Thanks to the community within the Chancellor’s Science Scholars program, she got the encouragement she needed to keep moving forward, and she has completed three successful research projects in the McGinty Lab in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
Recognizing the significance of Chancellor’s Science Scholars’ structural and emotional support, Azzam wanted to provide similar resources to more underrepresented Carolina STEM students. As a Tar Heel, she took over as the president for Carolina’s chapter of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, or NOBCChE.“While minorities are not always explicitly excluded from STEM, it’s kind of this implicit type of exclusion that comes from the culture surrounding STEM,” said Azzam, who is majoring in biochemistry and neuroscience. “What NOBBChE does is foster a social community for minority students pursuing STEM at UNC so that we have each other’s back.”
