They Call Her 'Research Girl'

Enter Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui, PhD, the lab's director and associate professor in the departments of Neurosurgery and Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai.

"Even though Tania was an undergrad with no research experience, she was academically accomplished, and I could tell she was genuinely interested in neurodegenerative diseases and the work my lab was doing," Koronyo-Hamaoui recalled.

"Tania and I both are very positive, passionate people," Koronyo-Hamaoui added. "I think that's why I felt an immediate connection with her."

That connection made five years ago set Torbati—now a 25-year-old medical student—on a professional path she envisions will lead to a career as a physician-scientist.

From the start, Cedars-Sinai has played a pivotal role in Torbati's life. She was born at the medical center in 1994, just 60 seconds after her fraternal twin sister, Tina. If the name Torbati sounds familiar, that's because Tania Torbati is a cousin of Sam Torbati, MD, co-chair and medical director of the Ruth and Harry Roman Emergency Department at Cedars-Sinai.

Torbati, who was raised in West Los Angeles where she still lives, traces her passion for medicine to her childhood. Her father is a civil engineer, and her mother is a pharmacist. While she considers both role models, the example her mother set was particularly impactful.

"My mother has always been like the doctor of our family. Whenever someone was sick or injured, they'd call her," Torbati said. "I just loved how much knowledge she had, and that's what started my interest in medicine."

Torbati brought that interest to UCLA, where she majored in psychobiology, which explores the relationship between brain function and behavior. She also volunteered as a UCLA Care Extender for five years, which enabled her to interact with patients and medical staff.

One pint-sized UCLA patient in her charge unknowingly cemented Torbati's decision to become a physician. He was a 6-year-old who had undergone surgery for bone cancer. Frail and afraid of experiencing more pain, he refused to walk around the unit as his doctor had prescribed. Torbati decided a distraction was in order, so she brought out a box of stuffed animals and did her best elephant, pig and cow imitations.

"Not only did he burst out laughing, but he agreed to walk around the unit with me," Torbati said. "That moment crystalized my desire to work with patients and showed me the importance of compassion in medicine.

It was a different patient experience that sparked Torbati's interest in biomedical research. Several years ago, one of her grandparents was diagnosed with cancer and was unresponsive to conventional therapies. Looking for alternative treatments, Torbati and her family found a clinical trial that appeared promising. Participating in the trial led to complete remission.

"That taught me the crucial connection between research and medicine. Without researchers, there wouldn't be clinical trials testing potentially life-saving treatments," said Torbati. "I immediately knew I wanted to be part of these advancements in medicine. That's why I decided to apply for an internship at Cedars-Sinai."

Cedars-Sinai's Research Internship Program provides aspiring biomedical scientists ages 18 or older with hands-on research. Since 2014, the program has welcomed more than 1,000 interns. From July 2018 through June 2019, a total of 191 individuals interned with 97 faculty members across 11 departments.

"An integral part of being a professor and running a lab is mentoring the next generation," Koronyo-Hamaoui said. "I was mentored by strong female leaders, so I'm continuing that legacy."

The Research Internship Program also offers two other programs. The summer Minors in Research session pairs students ages 16 to 18 with faculty mentors who introduce them to laboratory techniques and research concepts. The Biomedical Education Pipeline Initiative offers 10-week internships to undergraduate students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds who are interested in pursuing graduate school, medical school or both.

Torbati joined Koronyo-Hamaoui's lab in September 2014.

"Dr. Koronyo-Hamaoui has been the best mentor, training me from the start and helping me build a solid research foundation," Torbati said.

The admiration is mutual. Koronyo-Hamaoui said Torbati "has a bench brain—she's intellectual, detail-oriented and has strong technical skills. She's also a star speaker. Tania is able to articulate our research better than I can."

Torbati's pre-internship self would have found that hard to believe.

"I've always been anxious about public speaking," said Torbati. Determined to conquer her fear, Torbati decided to participate in Cedars-Sinai's first Research Internship Poster Day in August 2015. Mission accomplished; not only was she was one of the event's three winners, but she also gave a winning presentation at the 2017 poster day competition.

Her winning ways continued. Torbati took first place for her research presentations on Alzheimer's disease at the 2018 and 2019 Annual American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians of California Convention and the 2019 Western American Federation for Medical Research Conference. The Koronyo-Hamaoui lab's studies examined an immunomodulatory drug that demonstrated potential for preserving cognitive function in murine models of Alzheimer's, and a newly discovered cytokine (small proteins that are important in cell signaling) that was shown to significantly hinder the immunological response to Alzheimer's pathology.

In June 2019, Torbati completed her second year of medical school at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California, where she attends the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific.

During her medical school orientation week in 2017, a professor commented on the incoming class's impressive credentials during his welcoming remarks. He singled out Torbati and praised her award-winning research.

"Ever since, a lot of my classmates know me as the research girl, and I'm the go-to person whenever they have a research question. I feel very fortunate and honored," said Torbati, who has contributed to five manuscripts and over 25 abstracts while interning in the Koronyo-Hamaoui lab.

Torbati has spent the last several months further training in the Koronyo-Hamaoui lab and helping to prepare several manuscripts for submission to journals, while also interning at the Doheny Eye Institute in Los Angeles. "The research I've participated in is really important to me, so I wanted to complete these projects before starting rotations," Torbati explained.

Torbati plans to stay involved in research throughout her medical training and career. "I truly love research. I've had such a positive experience that research has become a central part of who I am."

For more information about Cedars-Sinai's research education opportunities, visit the Research Internship Program.