Sedra Mourad immigrated to Dearborn Heights from Lebanon in 2024 as the first in her family to attend college, according to HFC’s latest profile and The Mirror News. For the fall 2026 semester, the Henry Ford College biology major is conducting paid research at Michigan Medicine alongside University of Michigan faculty.
Mourad earned a spot in U-M's Mellon Research Scholar Fellowship, according to HFC. U-M describes the program as a 20-week paid fellowship that pairs community college students with U-M faculty for part-time research, paying a stipend of $1,000 to $2,500 per semester.
The fellowship extends work Mourad began over the summer through U-M's Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) Community College Summer Fellowship Program, a 10-week placement in Dr. Navin Mahadevan's pathology lab at Michigan Medicine. Her research focused on small cell lung cancer, which accounts for 10% to 15% of all lung cancer cases.
Mourad said her project examined a protein called the glucocorticoid receptor and its potential influence on small cell lung cancer cells, including how fast they grow and how they interact with the immune system. She used CRISPR gene-editing technology to compare cancer cells with a functioning receptor to cells where it had been removed. The work examined differences in cell proliferation, gene expression and interactions between cancer cells and immune T cells.
One of her key mentors was Tianju Liu, a research scientist and lab manager who joined Mahadevan's laboratory in 2025, according to HFC. Mourad described Liu as having more than 20 years of experience with a range of research techniques.
Mourad enrolled at HFC after arriving in 2024 and took on a full slate of activities. She is president of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Alpha Xi Mu chapter, a member of the Henry Ford II Honors Program and a staff writer for The Mirror News, HFC's student newspaper. Her reporting has earned two first-place awards from the Michigan Community College Press Association.
She also won the Foren Communications Scholarship and the Helen Hackett Endowed Memorial Scholarship for fall 2026.
Mourad, the eldest of four siblings, completed high school overseas and speaks fluent Arabic and proficient French. She plans to earn her associate degree in biology in late 2026. She has completed the Michigan Transfer Agreement requirements and intends to transfer to U-M to major in neuroscience.
Her goal is the MD-PhD program at U-M.
Mourad said the fellowship allows her to continue building on the skills she developed through UROP and gives her a foundation to keep working toward neuroscience and medicine.
The Mellon Research Scholar Fellowship, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, includes students from Henry Ford College, Grand Rapids Community College and Schoolcraft College. U-M’s program page lists six to 12 hours of research per week alongside U-M faculty, with a maximum stipend of $5,000 for the academic year.
