Dr. Melissa Srougi, an associate teaching professor in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, has been selected as a winner of the NC State University Outstanding Teacher Award for 2025-26.

“There are so many fantastic educators, especially here at NC State, and so to be considered as one of them is humbling,” said Srougi, whose role is in the department’s Biotechnology Program. “It’s a field that you don’t get a lot of positive feedback in  necessarily, so this honor has been very humbling, very flattering. To see the impact that it has on students, you feel it very viscerally.”

The biotechnology courses that Srougi designs and teaches focus on giving students majoring in life sciences the set of universal laboratory skills they need to complement their academic preparation. She also directs research focused on pedagogy, examining collaborative peer-learning and growth mindset interventions to improve critical thinking and student learning outcomes in STEM courses.

“Because my work is interdisciplinary, it integrates perspectives from various colleges to solve complex problems and create connections,” said Srougi, an Ohio native who received her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Toledo. “The students who come through my classroom come from all eight colleges on campus, more than 80 academic programs, majors, undergrads, graduate students, you name it.”

“I had some fantastic mentors who introduced me to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and this was a totally different line of inquiry than what I had been trained in.” 
– Dr. Melissa Srougi, on a teaching-focused postdoc stint at NC State

Srougi didn’t start her career as a teacher. After receiving a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, she spent much of her postdoc years as a bench scientist researching cancer therapies, including with Dr. Keith Burridge, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In Burridge’s lab, Srougi grew to love the mentoring aspect of her work and began exploring teaching avenues, winning a rare teaching-focused postdoc in the Biotechnology Program at NC State with his support.

“I thought this would be a great way for me to hone my curriculum development skills, teach classes and learn the latest pedagogy to prepare myself to be an independent faculty member,” she said. “I had some fantastic mentors who introduced me to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and this was a totally different line of inquiry than what I had been trained in.” 

Srougi then spent five years as an assistant professor of biochemistry at High Point University in North Carolina, where she restructured the biochemistry curriculum to meet American Chemical Society certification and co-authored Molecular Biology Techniques 4th Ed textbook, before returning to NC State in 2019. 

A Pioneer Ahead of the Curve

In nominating Srougi for the NC State University Outstanding Teacher Award, Dr. Robert Kelly, the late director of the NC State Biotechnology Program, cited her skill at designing and implementing courses on cancer biology and biotechnology and at reinvigorating a course on RNAi.

“Her courses are cutting-edge, rigorous and exceptionally well taught,” Kelly said. “Mel has also been a major factor in keeping our core course, which is taken by 200+ undergrads and grads each year, current with biotechnological and pedagogical advances. Always staying ahead of the curve, Mel has pioneered a VR-based simulation on cell culture. This has set up a platform for similar games that she is developing with Computer Science.” 

In 2025, Srougi and Dr. Audrey Fikes, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Chemistry, won the Warwick A. Arden Interdisciplinary Teaching Excellence Award for their biotechnology class called Cancer Drug Discovery and Development. The award, named for NC State’s provost, was established to honor faculty who demonstrate exceptional creativity, innovation and effectiveness in integrating interdisciplinary approaches into their teaching.

“This inquiry-based course structure allows students to engage in real scientific research of drug discovery for triple negative breast cancer, allowing students to have a unique lab-based experience that not only contributes to their development as scientists, but actively contributes to cancer biology research as well,” Fikes said in nominating Srougi for the award. “It is rare that a course can so seamlessly achieve integration of authentic research while still maintaining a student-oriented approach that results in robust student learning outcomes, but this course does that and more.” 

Madison Routh, a graduate research assistant at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at UNC-CH, first met Srougi when she was pursuing a B.S. in biochemistry at NC State and took Srougi’s Intro to Biotechnology course. She later was an undergraduate research assistant in Srougi’s lab.

“Dr. Srougi made every student feel seen and heard and created a learning environment where it was safe to fail and try again,” said Routh in nominating Srougi for the award. “This supportive and inclusive atmosphere made a lasting impression on me, especially as someone navigating the challenges of early STEM education.” 

‘Incredibly Inspirational’

As an undergraduate student, Ethan Bendheim took two classes from Srougi — Manipulation of Recombinant DNA and Cancer Drug Discovery and Development. In nominating her for the award, he praised her ability to encourage students to step outside their comfort zones to facilitate large leaps of personal growth. 

“Dr. Srougi is an incredibly inspirational educator who teaches with so many levels of creativity, compassion and authenticity,” said Bendheim, now a graduate student at Wake Forest University’s School of Medicine in hopes of becoming a genetic counselor. “She has largely impacted the way I learn, think and communicate within the scientific community, and I know I am not the only student who feels this way.” 

Srougi will be recognized today along with other recipients at the University Teaching Awards Luncheon.

“Biotech has been wonderful, because everything that we create here, there’s no textbook,” she said. “Everything is de novo, because we have to create classes that reflect the current trends in biotechnology, but we also have a lot of freedom to design the classes that we feel would be most appropriate for students given the industry and academic environment around biotechnology.” 

Dr. Michele Battle, head of the NC State Department of Molecular Biological Sciences, said NC State is fortunate to have someone of Srougi’s talent helping students engage with biotech.

“Melissa is an outstanding educator and scholar who is redefining the scope of biotechnology training at NC State,” Battle said. “ She consistently integrates cutting-edge tools and concepts into her courses to ensure her students are prepared to meet the challenges posed by the constantly evolving landscape of science and technology. I am thrilled for Melissa to be recognized with this award that celebrates her talent and commitment as a teacher at NC State.”