Besa Xhabija, Ph.D.

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Karmanos Cancer Institute and the Wayne State University School of Medicine
• Ph.D., University of Windsor, Canada
• B.S., (honors), Biochemistry, York University, Toronto, Canada

Dr. Xhabija joined the Department of Natural Sciences as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry in September 2022. Her research is on toxicology and cancer, and her laboratory aims to understand the effects of toxins on early embryonic development utilizing embryonic stem cells since they provide a new tool and opportunity to investigate the impact of environmental exposures and their interactions with genetic factors on human development and health.

• Fayyad, D.; Kelts, J.L.; Nielson, T.H.; Epelle, I.L.; Monear, N.C.; Strawn, M.T.G.; Woerner, B.N.; Xhabija, B. COVID-19: A Systematic Review of the Transmissibility, Pathogenesis, Entry Factors, and Signature Immune Response. BioChem 2022, 2, 115-144. https://doi.org/10.3390/biochem2020009
• He R, Xhabija B, Gopi LK, Kurup JT, Xu Z, Liu Z, Kidder BL. H3K4 demethylase KDM5B regulates cancer cell identity and epigenetic plasticity. Oncogene. 2022 Apr 19. doi: 10.1038/s41388-022-02311-z. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35440714.
• Monear C. N., Xhabija B. “The effect of lead during the Flint water crisis on mouse embryonic stem cells self-renewal and differentiation markers”. 2020. In Vitro Toxicology, Mar;63. Completed at UM-Flint.

• Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Junior Faculty Award, University of Michigan-Flint, 2022
• Early Career Academic Award, Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center coordinated by the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, 2021
• Dr. Ben Bryer Fellow, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2019