International researcher visits ISU-Meridian

Dr. Karima Benyahia, an international researcher from Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria, has wrapped up a month-long visit to the College of Pharmacy at Idaho State University-Meridian.

She spent Jan. 7 through Feb. 4 collaborating with Dr. Dong “Danny” Xu, a computational chemist and assistant professor in the biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences department.  Xu conducts research in advanced molecular simulation and protein engineering that could lead to the discovery of new drugs to treat chemical addictions and mental illness.

Benyahia, a faculty member in the Sciences and Technology Institute at the University of Ain Temouchent, Algeria, was searching for advanced study in computational chemistry and learned of Xu’s research on the Internet. She was accepted to her university’s international scholars program, which helped fund her trip to Idaho. Benyahia says she’ll apply the knowledge gleaned from her collaboration with Xu to her own biomedical research and share new insights with her colleagues at home.

Xu says it was a pleasure to host Benyahia for the month and looks forward to continuing the collaboration. He said ISU is already known for its caliber of research in Idaho and the United States. Hosting an international researcher can strengthen the university’s prestige on a global level, he added.

Xu holds a Ph.D. in computational science from San Diego State University. After three years of postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Diego, Xu joined ISU in 2012.