NC State honors Melissa Srougi with outstanding teacher award

NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine said Dr. Melissa Srougi, an associate teaching professor in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, has been named a 2025-26 recipient of the university’s Outstanding Teacher Award. Srougi teaches in NC State’s Biotechnology Program and is being recognized for building courses that blend biotechnology skills training, cancer biology, and teaching research. The university said her classes bring students from across all eight colleges into hands-on, inquiry-based learning, including authentic cancer drug discovery work tied to triple-negative breast cancer research. (cvm.ncsu.edu)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals and academic leaders, the award highlights how cancer research and workforce training can reinforce each other. Srougi’s teaching model emphasizes lab readiness, interdisciplinary collaboration, and evidence-based pedagogy, including work on peer learning, growth mindset interventions, and immersive simulation tools for biotechnology instruction. That’s relevant for veterinary education programs trying to prepare students for translational research, diagnostics, biopharma, and comparative oncology settings where technical skills and cross-disciplinary fluency matter. (cvm.ncsu.edu)

What to watch: Watch for whether NC State expands or further spotlights Srougi’s course-based research model and immersive biotech training approaches in future veterinary and life sciences education initiatives. (cvm.ncsu.edu)