Maha Zewail-Foote

Notable Achievements

Professor and Garey Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry Maha Zewail-Foote presented her research at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., highlighting how alternative DNA structures and DNA damage influence repair and the development of mutations. This work contributes to understanding genetic instability and human disease, and provides new insight into the mechanisms underlying genetic instability and human disease.

Professor of Chemistry

Expertise

Alternative (non-B) DNA structures, chemistry of drug-DNA interactions, photoinduced and oxidative DNA damage, genetic instability

Biography

Publications

Dr. Zewail-Foote earned a B.S. degree in chemistry with honors from Caltech and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from The University of Texas at Austin. She joined the faculty at Southwestern University in 2003 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2009 and Professor in 2013. She holds the Garey Chair in Chemistry at Southwestern and is a Visiting Scholar at UT Austin.

Dr. Zewail-Foote regularly teaches general chemistry and biochemistry. Her research focuses on the chemistry of DNA damage and genetic instability, with particular emphasis on non-B DNA structures and oxidative lesions that contribute to mutagenesis and cancer-related genomic instability. Her laboratory integrates biophysical, biochemical, and chemical approaches to understand how DNA structure influences damage formation and repair. Her work has been published in leading journals including Nature Chemistry and Nucleic Acids Research.

A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Zewail-Foote actively engages undergraduate students in interdisciplinary research at the forefront of nucleic acid chemistry. She is deeply committed to inclusive excellence in STEM and has led mentoring initiatives that support faculty and student success across the sciences.

M. Zewail-Foote and Martin Gonzalez (2023) Crisscrossing Learning Experiences in an Undergraduate Research-Based Laboratory Course to Promote Reciprocal Peer Learning, Journal of Chemical Education, 100, 1092. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00341

M. Zewail-Foote (2020) Pivoting an Upper-Level, Project-Based Biochemistry Laboratory Class to Online Learning During COVID-19: Enhancing Research Skills and Using Community Outreach to Engage Undergraduate Students, Journal of Chemical Education, 97, 2727. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00543

M. Zewail-Foote, J.R. Venters*, K.A. Johnson (2019) Teaching Chemical Kinetics with Dynamic Simulations, Trends in Chemistry, 1, 278-281.

E. Niemeyer and M. Zewail-Foote (2018) Influence of gender on student perceptions of the clicker in a small undergraduate general chemistry course, Journal of Chemical Education, 95, 218-223.

I.M. del Mundo, M. Zewail-Foote, S.M. Kerwin, and K.M. Vasquez (2017) Alternative DNA structure formation in the mutagenic human c-MYC promoter, Nucleic Acids Research, 45: 4929-4943. DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx100

Z. Johnson*, J. Venters*, F.A. Guarraci, M. Zewail-Foote (2015) Methamphetamine induces DNA damage in specific regions of the female rat brain, Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology, 42: 570-575.

V. Kumar, A. Vasudevan, L.J. Ting Soh, C.L. Min, A. Vyas, M. Zewail-Foote and F.A. Guarraci (2014) Sexual attractiveness in male rats is associated with greater concentration of major urinary proteins, Biology of Reproduction, 91: 1-7.

A. Zewail & M. Zewail (2013) Science for the “Haves”, Agnew. Chem. Int. Ed., 52: 108-111.

J. Bolton*, C. Winland*, B. Ford*, A. Burbey*, M. Zewail-Foote and F.A. Guarraci (2012) Kin discrimination in prepubescent and adult Long-Evans rats, Behavioural Processes, 90: 415-419.

C. Winland*, J. Bolton*, B. Ford*, S. Jampana*, J. Tinker,* R.J. Frohardt, F.A. Guarraci and M. Zewail-Foote (2012) “Nice Guys Finish Last”: Influence of mate choice on reproductive success in the Long Evans rat, Physiology & Behavior, 105:868-876.

G. G. Holman, M. Zewail-Foote, A.R. Smith, K.A. Johnson, and B.L. Iverson (2011) A sequence-specific threading tetraintercalator with an extremely slow dissociation rate constant, Nature Chemistry 3: 875-881. (co-first author)

M. Zewail-Foote, A. Diehl*, A. Benson*, M. Lee*, F. A. Guarraci (2009) Mate preference and paternity in female long evans rats. Physiology & Behavior 96: 98-103. (Featured on the cover)

R. Kainthla*, M. Zewail-Foote (2008) Oxidative DNA damage following photoexcitation of daunomycin: Direct role of oxygen. J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 198: 200-204.

M. Zewail-Foote, L. Ven-Shun, H. Kohn, D. Bearss, M. Guzman, L.H. Hurley (2001) The inefficiency of incisions of Ecteinascidin 743-DNA adducts by the UvrABC nuclease and the unique structural feature of the DNA adducts can be used to explain the repair-dependent toxicities of this antitumor agent. Chemistry and Biology 8:1033-1049.

M. Zewail-Foote, L.H. Hurley (2001) Differential rates of reversibility of Ecteinascidin 743-DNA covalent adducts from different sequences lead to migration to favored bonding sites. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123: 6485-6495.

L. H. Hurley, M. Zewail-Foote (2001) The antitumor agent Ecteinascidin 743: Characterization of its covalent DNA adducts and chemical stability. Adv Exp Med Biol 500: 289-299.

M. Zewail-Foote, Hurley, L. H. (2001) Ecteinascidin 743: Characterization of its covalent DNA adducts and chemical stability. The Antitumor Agent In Snyder, R. e. al., ed. Biological Reactive Intermediates VI. New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum. 2001.

M. Zewail-Foote, L.H. Hurley (1999) Ecteinascidin 743: A minor groove alkylator that bends DNA toward the major groove. J. Med. Chem. 42: 2493-2497.

M. Zewail-Foote, L.H. Hurley (1999) Molecular approaches to achieving control of gene expression by drug intervention at the transcriptional level. Anti-Cancer Drug Design 14: 1-9.

B.H. Arendt, R.M. Kannan, M. Zewail, J.A. Kornfield and S.D. Smith. (1994) Dynamics of each component in miscible blends of polyisoprene and polyvinylethylene. Rheologica Acta 33: 322-336.