I always enjoy studying Cell Biology, because it is a subject that encompasses so much of life's issues and practicalities thereby unfolding the secretes of human being's existence. I deeply interested in the role of Cancer Stem Cells in drug resistance in Colorectal and Brain cancers.

My ambition to become a researcher has origins in my under graduation period, where I found greater scope for personal input into my work helping me focus largely on my professional aspirations. After graduation, I developed more understanding of genetics and molecular biology and lead to a creative thinking in research fields. To enhance my understanding of cancer stem cells I spent time in reading specialized books and papers to fill the missing links. Moreover, internet search has updated my knowledge related to molecular biology and biomedical researches.

Having graduated as a Biochemist from Faculty of Sciences at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), I am now in the process of formulating my career plans. I have to analyze my various options and decide on the ones that will benefit me the most, both professionally and personally.

I am Ayat Badr Al-Ghafari. I was born on 15 March 1983 in Jeddah, KSA. I finished my higher education in 2005 and got the BSc degree in Biochemistry from the Faculty of sciences, KAU in Jeddah, KSA with an accumulative grade point average (4.95 from 5) excellent. After graduation, I worked as Research Assistant in the Faculty of Sciences Central laboratory for Postgraduate Research for more than eleven months as a volunteer. I had the opportunity to work in advance biochemical techniques, and studying affect of drugs on behavior. I also gained experience in extraction and separation techniques. I gained confidence and extended my research techniques skills that encouraged me further to pursue my desire of becoming a successful researcher.

I had the chance to enroll in postgraduate studies for MSc in Genetics in the Faculty of Sciences, KAU. I got the degree in 2009 with an accumulative grade point average (4.98 from 5). My project in Master was focused on finding the association between different single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Resistin gene and their ability to develop Colon Cancer in the Saudi population.  Moreover, I successfuly finished my PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Nottingham, UK. I graduated in the summer of 2013. My PhD project was focused on "Drug resistance mechanisms in a high grade glioma cell line".
 
At present, I am working as an Associate Professor at Biochemistry department in Faculty of Sciences, KAU where I joined the departmental research that was funded by different organizations and learnt how to carry out different biochemical research. In the meantime, I start developing my own research group that focus on studying the changes in genomics and proteomics in cancer stem cells and their effects on drug resistance in Colorectal and Brain cancers in Saudi population.