MEET THE PROFESSIONAL
July 2020
Dr. Loubna Hassanieh
Loubna was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and moved to the United States where she earned a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from USC. She is a published scientist with a deep understanding that knowledge cannot be attained through scientific reductionism alone.
Loubna is also the author of Where Will My Heart Beat? A story about Adel Jacob Born into a prominent and affluent family, eventually learns that wealth has no bearing on happiness. At age seventeen, he falls prey to his brother?s animosity and becomes forever handicapped. Betrayed by his parents? shortcomings, Adel realizes he must leave home, abandoning his innocence and with it, his first love, Mona. Twenty-five years later, a painful yearning brings Adel back to his hometown where things are no longer the same. Order your copy here
We are very excited to feature her as our professional in this month’s “Meet the Professional” series.
Below are a few questions to help facilitate this interactive connection. At the end of the page you will have an opportunity to post your own questions for Loubna.
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Degree/s and Universities.
- Cancer Research/Angiogenesis at the University of Southern California (USC)
- PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Southern California (USC)
- Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA)
Please list any awards/recognitions/honors:
- Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society of UCLA.
- UCLA Alumni board member.
- Multiple publications of articles in scientific journals and medical books about Angiogenesis.
- Patent holder.
- Condé Nast Traveler, Oct 29, 2019 featured Where Will My Heart Beat? under Ambassadors Recommend the One Book to Read Before Visiting Their Country.
- The French Alliance, under the gracious patronage of the Embassy of Lebanon in DC: Presentation/Book Discussion in celebration of the Francophone.
- “Influencer” with International Association of Women.
- Multiple excellent editorial reviews of Where Will My Heart Beat?
Discuss a moment or turning point in your life that led you to your career path:
After years of cancer research in both academia and biotechnology, I became convinced that science alone does not fully explain the human experience: how we strive to survive, flourish, and find meaning. I believe that there is a universal wisdom to humanity that doesn’t emanate from logic or intellect, but rather from our hearts and our intuitions. I decided to share my thoughts and raise the many questions on my mind in my story because I believe in the power of storytelling as the most effective way to communicate and sympathize with others. In 2013, I combined my passion for writing and science and began working on a book of literary fiction. Where Will My Heart Beat? tells the story of good and evil, and loss and redemption as it follows a man’s return to his past. It was published in November 2018. As a scientist, I am aware of all the questions yet to be answered, even the subjects we think we understand are just an interpretation of reality and not reality itself. As our scientific tools and methods become more advanced and precise, we realize that the closer we look at a system, the more erratic its behavior, and the further away from logic we find our interpretations. Today’s science relies solely on our sensory experience to gather empirical data to be tested. All the data we have gathered so far says nothing about the world as it is, but rather our understanding of it. In writing this book, I used my skills literature, storytelling and science. My scientific mind allows me to read between the lines and understand details, and my inclination to physics and metaphysics allows me to put realities in perspective, and see things from a different angle.
Discuss a role model or mentor who influenced your career choice:
My life has been guided and shaped by all those who have entered it regardless of how fleeting the experience. From my parents to my relatives and friends, from my teachers to my husband and kids I learned and will learn until the end.
My paternal grandmother exemplified wisdom, integrity, and fortitude. She carried her big family through two world wars, loss, and hardship, all the while maintaining a positive attitude on life and appreciating beauty. From her I learned to embrace the power of being a woman and to believe in myself.
Do you recall any specific challenges you encountered and overcame?
Having been born and raised in Lebanon in times of wars and invasions, I had witnessed hatred, prejudice, and injustice. The biggest challenges that have presented themselves to me were to unlearn the way of the past, to overcome the fears of childhood, and to expand my self-perception.
An excerpt from Where Will My Heart Beat?
I chose the following excerpt. It is the only poem in the book. The poem represents the human dilemma in the search for knowledge, for higher purpose, and for the ultimate meaning of the human existence.
So much of life is left unspoken
From that day on
And until the end of this journey
So much will lie forgotten
Until
A dry leaf under my foot
A drop of water on my nose
A cry of desperation in the night
And the memory is bright
But the feeling is mercurial under my thumb
An outburst of inexplicable happiness
Commensurate with it
An unsettling fear
Don’t things start with their end drawing near?
When did it all start?
When does it all end?
Interpolations raised to extrapolations
Land of impossible realizations
A chase of a shadow
A flight from pain
The madness of it all
The travesty
Consciousness in a body
Are we each a particle?
Or do we all comprise a wave
Flowing with a rhythm
Interfering directly with one another?
Besetting questions
Are the shadowy furrows of the brain
The cradle of the mind?
Or is my chemistry an illusion?
How come I feel the pain?
My night is long
Why can’t I get out of bed?
My day longer
Why can’t I go to sleep?
Were decisions ever my own?
When my start was a cell and my end
A grain of sand in the wind?
So much lies around the bend
Pleading fervently for redemption
Until it is all lived again
What advice would you give to someone starting out in your field?
There is no limit to the set of possibilities in life, to the possible paths one can embark on. Consequently, there is no limit to our potential. We can become what we set our mind to be. So, identify what you like in life and go after it no matter how difficult it may seem. Also, don’t be afraid of change, it is the only way to grow.
Tell us a little bit about your hobbies outside of your field:
Finding the time and solitude to write can sometimes be difficult but I am committed to finding a balance between my life as a scientist, wife, mother and writer. Also, I am dedicated to my book and I would like to see Where Will My Heart Beat? made into a movie.
A Q&A form will be uploaded shortly. In the meantime feel free to send any questions you would like to ask Loubna to admin@network1017.com
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