Mahmoud Maksoud, Anish Prasad Lohani, Mohamed Elosta, and Nimer Murshid posing together in a brightly lit hallway with a CMU Qatar banner visible in the background.

CMU-Q Students Co-author Nanotechnology Paper in Molecules

By Angela Ford Email Angela Ford

Heidi Opdyke

Two undergraduate students at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar have achieved a rare academic milestone: co-authoring a peer-reviewed research paper on cutting-edge cancer diagnostics.

Their work contributes to the growing field of nanomedicine, where early cancer detection can significantly improve patient outcomes and survival rates.

Anish Prasad Lohani and Mohamed Elosta, both sophomores studying biological sciences, accomplished this feat in April 2025 with the guidance of mentors and co-author Nimer Murshid, assistant teaching professor of chemistry, and Mahmoud Maksoud, education support specialist in biological sciences.

The paper, titled “Functionalized carbon nanotubes: Emerging nanomaterials for enhanced cancer diagnosis and imaging,” was published in Molecules in April and originated as a class project in a new elective course, Nanotechnology in Context. While the assignment ended with the semester, Lohani and Elosta chose to take their project to the next level.

Nanotechnology is a field of science focused on materials that are incredibly small, typically between 1 and 100 nanometers — a nanometer being a billionth of a meter. Because of their tiny size, these nanoparticles have a vastly increased surface area, which gives them unique properties.

Their project was a review of functionalized carbon nanotubes, which have emerged as promising materials for use in medicine, electronics for solar cells, and environmental science. Their goal was to explore how modifying carbon nanotubes through chemical and physical methods can enhance their effectiveness in detecting and imaging cancer at early stages.

Murshid’s mentorship extended beyond academic guidance, helping the students navigate the peer-review process and understand the rigors of scientific publishing. He met with the students weekly to expand upon their original paper, adding new sections and deepening the research. 

“They put in an excellent effort, and not only did they learn about carbon nanotubes, they understand the process that scientists go through to share their work with the research community,” he said.

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar’s Biological Sciences program has a strong laboratory and research focus, which establishes a strong foundation for careers in scientific exploration.