Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Mona Maroun is a Professor of Psychology, working in Brain Research - Neurobiology and Memory and Emotion Research. Head of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Haifa.
Mona Maroun was born on December 3, 1970 in the village of Isfiya to an Arab Christian Maronite family. Most of her family members have university degrees.
Mona Maroun attended primary school in Isfiya. She attended middle school at Ort Isfiya School, and secondary school at the Arab Orthodox College in Haifa.
1992: She received her BA in Psychology and English from Haifa University.
1996: She received her MA in Psychological Psychology from the Department of Psychology from the University of Haifa.
2000: Received a Ph.D. in Psychological Psychology.
2001: Postdoctoral fellowship in France at the ORSAY FRANCE-NAM University of Paris XI laboratory for learning and memory research.
She broke barriers on her way to becoming a leading researcher, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Brain Sciences at the University of Haifa. Although she has had to prove her ability and commitment to research throughout her career, she has been able to establish herself as a neuroscientist from the most prestigious field.
Mona Maroun is the first woman from her village, Isfiya, to finish her Ph.D. (2000) and is the first Arab professor of neuroscience in Israel. In 2015, she published her fortieth article.
Mona Maroun studies the neurodegenerative disorders of PTSD in experiments on lab rats. In her research into the possibility of removing fear memories, she developed an injectable barrier. This barrier prevents activation of the AKT molecule, which is a critical component of memory formation. A one-time injection of the block in a specific time window can erase the memory of the specific fear, and prevent re-emergence of the fear. This treatment enables millions of people around the world who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder to be helped.
Mona Maroun has also worked on preclinical research to determine whether a particular substance has the ability to erase traumatic memories, hoping to eventually translate the findings to find a solution for patients with PTSD. The study found that injecting animals with this substance would cancel fear memory and that there were differences in development and in the mechanisms that regulate fear memory in puppies, compared to adult animals. This means that even in humans, different treatments may be required for children and adults.
Her public activity:
Active participation in "Brain Days", which are educational activities to raise awareness about brain sciences in Arab schools in her country.
She is active in the "Al-Maram" association, which seeks to raise the level of knowledge about scientific topics among Palestinian students inside Israel.
She was a member of the 2013 Head of State Scholarship Committee in the field of Brain Sciences.
She participated in a film produced by the European Union to encourage girls to choose a scientific career.
Source
Achievements and Awards
- She was awarded the title of "Lady Globes" in September 2013, and became the first Arab woman to obtain this degree in life and natural sciences.
She was selected among the 50 most influential women in Israel in a Forbes poll.
- Years in active
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