Where others see difficulty, Zain Jawad sees an opportunity to help.

Jawad has been a Supplemental Instruction leader since Fall 2017, facilitating group study sessions to help other students succeed in traditionally difficult chemistry courses. This year, he added another supporting role, acting as a mentor for other SI leaders.

“Zain has worked exceptionally well with his fellow SI leaders and with SI students, and has consistently gone above and beyond his responsibilities as a leader,” said Science Learning Center Director Liz McDowell, noting that he was one of two SI leaders in the natural sciences to receive an Outstanding SI Mentor award.

Jawad’s impact reaches beyond SI. He is a member of the Lebanese Student Association, MEDLIFE and PhiDE. He has been involved with natural science research since 2017, working alongside Associate Professor Simona Marincean and Professor Marilee Benore. And off campus, he is part of the Arab American Health Initiative, where he works with other undergraduate and medical school students in organizing community health seminars to highlight and address health disparities in the community.

All this is working toward his ultimate goal of becoming a physician at the forefront of improving patient care and community health.

“As an aspiring physician, I aim to be on the frontlines of applying developments in healthcare and medicine through interactions with patients and my community,” he said. “I hope to use the experiences I’ve had at UM-Dearborn to identify and work toward solving fundamental problems in healthcare and medicine."