Given the discussion thus far of commensalism and parasitism, would parasitism be an accurate way to describe the relationship between the strangler fig and the cypress tree? please help me

Yes, when two root tendrils from a strangler fig touch, they fuse together. Because the roots wrap around the trunk of the host tree, they overlap a lot and eventually form a mesh that completely encircles the host.
The “host” being a cypress tree.

Some of her  assignments would be creation of drugs. she is a medical chemist after all so she'd need to have the necessary knowledge to make medicine which can later be sold in a pharmacy