Research Assistants

Current Research Assistants

Osama Zayyad, Research Assistant 2011-2012

Osama Zayyad is a Research Assistant at Microclinic International. He is dual enrolled at Yale College and the Yale School of Public Health through The Select Program in Public Health, a five year BS/MPH program - majoring in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and focusing in Chronic Disease Epidemiology with a concentration in Global Public Health. As a Yale Science Scholar and a University Sheffield Award recipient Osama has conducted research at the Yale School of Medicine on the molecular basis of DNA polymerase fidelity, with a translational emphasis on its role in colon and breast cancer susceptibility.

Osama spent the summer at the Cambridge University as a Thouron Scholar completing a study on the interplay between policy, science and technology in the emergence of MDR-TB. His interests, which have taken him to five continents, include health of marginalized populations with an emphasis on access to healthcare. Osama is the Yale Medical Professions Outreach Co-President, and former President of the Yale Biomedical Engineering Society. A native of Chicago, Osama spends the rest of his time painting, engaged in photograpy, volunteering as a tutor, writing and editing for The Triple Helix, and playing on the Yale Club Rugby team. Osama knows Arabic and Spanish.

Josh Rushakoff, Research Assistant 2011-2012

Josh Rushakoff is a third year at the University of California, Davis where he is pursuing a major in Biochemistry-Molecular Biology and minors in Economics and Jewish Studies. As a member of Dr. Robert Berman's Neuroscience Laboratory, he is conducting translational research in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disease, with studies focusing on immune system dysregulation in a mouse model of autism. Outside of class and the lab, Josh is a member of the UC Davis cycling team. He is the founder of musicalmatch.net, a web-based service linking young musicians with nursing home residents, which was a 2009 recipient of a National Grammy Foundation/DoSomething.org award. Josh is combining his passion for research, economic policy, and community service in his work with MCI. After graduation, he plans to attend medical school.