Malak moved from her hometown of Cairo, Egypt in 2010 to pursue her undergraduate degree in Neurobiology in the US at Boston University (BU). There, worked in two labs: first, she studied whether adolescent use of the commercially-available ADHD medications (Ritilin & Atomoxetine) increases the likelihood of cocaine addiction, and second, she switched to molecular neurobiology to study how neurons homeostatically regulate glucose receptors under different levels of cellular activity. 
 
Following her graduation from BU, Malak became a researcher and lab manager at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical school, where she focused on understanding the cellular and molecular underpinnings of a rare (<1% of the population) genetic disorder in humans called microcephaly or “small brain”. To model the causative mutations for microcephaly found in the lab´s patients, Malak used a gene editing tool (CRISPR/Cas-9) to introduce the various mutations to in vitro cultures. Though her experience was highly productive and nourishing, Malak was ready to start her graduate degree.   Malak started her PhD in Neuroscience at UC Berkeley in 2015 and joined the lab of Dr. Marla Feller, where she delved into the world of sensory neuroscience and electrophysiology. For her thesis, she focused her work on the neural circuits of the retina that are responsible for motion detection. Since the organization of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs onto a neuron's branches (its  dendrites) is thought to contribute to the motion computation, Malak asked whether the shape of the dendrites can lead to changes in the organization of these synaptic inputs. Following her graduation, Malak was excited to further explore how the shape of neurons inform their function within intact neural circuits.   In the Neurophotonics and mechanical systems biology group, Malak combines her knowledge of imaging and electrophysiology to understand how mechanical injury influences axonal morphology and neural circuit physiology.   In her free time, you can find Malak roller skating, exploring Barcelona, staring at plants, hiking, singing loudly to herself or laying in the sun somewhere.