Dr. Sakina Elzebair Eltom is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. Her education includes a professional degree in Veterinary Medicine where she was trained in large animal medicine and surgery in University of Khartoum in Sudan, with further training in University of Liverpool, England and Veterinary School of Hannover, Germany. Dr. Eltom went on to earn a Masters of Science and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Cornell University in Ithaca NY.
Her postdoctoral research experience includes training in chemical carcinogenesis at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, and training in environmental and molecular toxicology at the Center for Environmental Toxicology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She held numerous academic positions at Cornell University and University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also ventured in the biotechnology world, where she held a Senior Scientist position in Paracelsian Inc., an IPO Biotech Company in Upstate NY. Before joining the faculty at Meharry, she was an Assistant Scientist in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison.
Dr. Eltom’s research is investigating the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis induced by exposure to environmental Organochlorines and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The major emphasis is on characterizing the role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in the development and progression of breast carcinoma. Another research area in her laboratory is investigating the role of environmental endocrine disruptors in breast cancer of pre-menopausal women and how the gene-environment interaction contributes as a risk factor to the high incidence of breast cancer in pre-menopausal African American women.
In addition to research, Dr. Eltom has a vast interest in graduate education, contributing as a trainer for Ph.D. students in biomedical sciences. She served as the inaugural director of graduate studies in pharmacology, and she set the foundation on the curriculum for the training program in pharmacology and toxicology at Meharry Medical College.
Dr. Eltom has served on several review panels at the NIH, DOD and Philip Morris External Research Program and she is currently a chartered member of the Cancer Etiology Study section until 2018. Dr. Eltom is author of several peer-reviewed Publications. She served as a member of ASPET Committee on Diversity (2006-2010), and on the Advisory Committee for organizing the National Meetings of the Directors of Graduate Studies in Pharmacology (2005- ).