Dr. Shaikh’s research area is toxicology. More specifically, he is interested in understanding how metals bring about their harmful effects upon therapeutic, environmental, or occupational exposure.  The 2009 SURF project will be a sub-set of the ongoing studies on the mechanism of cadmium-induced breast cancer cell proliferation.  The student will work closely with a postdoctoral fellow and will perform experiments in immortalized cancer cells that will be cultured in vitro and treated with cadmium chloride solution.  The student will also have the opportunity to learn selected genomic and proteomic techniques and how to present their results as a scientific poster.