Patients Zaynab Taya (26), a resident of Amman has received a research grant for her work on the use of desert plants’ extracts to stop the spread of cancer cells.
Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, together with government ministers, officials and other dignitaries attended the recent agricultural show held at the “Yair Station” – R&D Center for the Arava in Southern Israel where research grants and prizes were presented by the Yair Gorun Foundation for work on agriculture-related projects.
For the first time a Jordanian student, Zaynab Taya was awarded a research grant for her research work on desert plant extracts such as Asteriscus graveolens (fragrant star) and acacia trees, which assist in halting the spread of cancer cells (metastasis).
Taya is a M.Sc. degree and research student at the Hatzava Extension of the Dead Sea and Arava Science Center.
The Central Arava R&D Center is hoping that this research will help in fighting cancer and also bring a new crop to the Arava region. Occasionally, Taya manages to take a break from her intensive work to spend time at her home in Amman.
She completed her first degree studies in 2009 at the Jordan University of Science and Technology, while simultaneously taking additional courses in molecular biology at the Al-Khalid hospital in Saudi Arabia, and volunteering in research projects conducted at the King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan. Ran Gorun, Bezeq’s deputy CEO awarded Zaynab Taya the project grant named after his father Yair Gorun RIP at a ceremony during the Arava show. Grants and prizes were awarded to additional students at all levels ranging from doctorate to high school for their contribution to agricultural research.
