Faculty Bios and Research Interest

Dr. Asad Zeidan, Coordinator of Graduate Studies

Dr. Asad Zeidan is an Associate Professor of physiology in the College of Medicine at the University of Qatar. He received fellowships for graduate study in vascular physiology from Swedish Institute and Faculty of Medicine at Lund University in Lund, Sweden. In 2003 he received his Ph.D. degree in vascular physiology at Lund University, Sweden. His Ph.D. study focused on stretch-dependent growth and remodelling in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). The major goal of his Ph.D. research was to identify the signals behind mechanical stretch-induced growth and differentiation marker proteins in VSMC. He has also been an instructor for cardiovascular physiology and anatomy labs for medical students.  In January 2004, Dr. Zeidan moved to London, Ontario, Canada, for his postdoctoral studies in the department of physiology and pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine at University of Western Ontario. His research involved studies of the molecular mechanisms underlying hypertrophic effect of the obesity associated protein leptin in vascular and cardiac tissues. In December 2009, Dr. Zeidan accepted a faculty position in the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of Rochester, New York. During his stay, he received the highly competitive and prestigious Scientist Development Grant (#10SDG4250012 success rate: 8.3%) from the American Heart Association (AHA), which is reserved for promising young scientists.  In 2011, Dr. Zeidan joined the Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiology at American University of Beirut (AUB) as an Assistant Professor of Physiology. At the same time, he established his own research profile working on hypertension and obesity. His main research focus was on studying the relationship between obesity-associated proteins (adiponectin and leptin), hypertension, and mechanotransduction signaling in VSMCs/endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo. His projects utilize his experience and knowledge from both his graduate and postdoctoral training in vascular and cardiac research in order to study, in-depth, novel molecular mechanisms in the regulation of cardiovascular function in health and disease. In 2012, he received the Talal Zein award in Hypertension and Cardiovascular Prevention from the European Society of Hypertension. He was later awarded a travel research fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians (Daniel Turnberg Travel Fellowships). Dr. Asad has around 46 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters in highly ranked scientific journals and his H-Index stands right now at 25.

His principal research activities focus on:

1. Characterizing the mechanisms by which VSMC in the vascular wall sense changes in blood pressure and modulate vessel size and tone. Using blood vessels organ culture, models of hypertension (in vivo) and cardio-vascular-proteomics platform; molecular signalling that are involved in hypertension-induced VSMC remodelling are being investigated. The goal is to identify novel biomechanical sensing molecules.
2. Understanding of the mechanisms of the obesity associated proteins (such as leptin and adiponectin)- and diabetes-induced cardiac and vascular remodelling.
3. Design and validation of a model for In Vitro investigation of shear stress and its role in atherosclerosis.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WleqHWoAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Gerhild Zauner Koudelka, Research Coordinator

My Master's degree was received in Graz/ Austria in Pharmaceutical Sciences. After that, I obtained my Ph.D. in Protein Biochemistry/ Biophysics at the University of Leiden/ The Netherlands, before working as a PostDoc in the mass spectrometry group at the Leiden University Medical Center. Afterward, I moved to Vienna/ Austria for a Scientist position in the monoclonal antibody purification and characterization group of a biotech company called Arsanis Bioscience where I became a group leader after a few months. Arsanis is developing vaccines against bacterial infections.

In 2016 I decided to slightly change my career and moved into TechTransfer/ Licensing by starting a new appointment at Imperial Innovations in London/ UK to a role as Consultancy Engagement Manager at Imperial Consultants. Since September 2018 I am working at QU Health as a Research Coordinator also taking care if the Innovation Management within the cluster.

Basic Medical Science Department

Dr. Marwan Abu Hijleh,  Head of Basic Medical Science

Professor MARWAN ABU-HIJLEH graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Medicine & Surgery (MBBCh) from Cairo University Faculty of Medicine, Egypt (1980) and received his (Ph.D.) degree in Anatomy from Glasgow University Medical School, Scotland, UK (1987). He taught Clinical Anatomy to medical students for more than 35 years in UK, Jordan, Oman, and Bahrain. He served as the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy and Vice Dean for Curriculum & Medical Education, Jordan University of Science & Technology, Jordan (1998-2001). He also served as Chairman of the Anatomy Department, College of Medicine & Medical Sciences (CMMS), Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain (2005-2015). Over the past two decades, he developed an increasing interest in Medical Education which prompted him to earn in 2009 a Master in Health Professions Education (MHPE); a joint program between University of Maastricht, the Netherlands & Suez Canal University, Egypt. Before joining Qatar University in 2015, he was also Chairman of the BSc Examination Committee and Chairman of the CMMS Appointments & Promotions Committee. He also was a core member in several key committees at both College and University levels. He served as Acting Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the College of Medicine, Qatar University from 2016-2017. He is currently Professor of Anatomy & Medical Education, Head of Basic Medical Sciences Department at the College of Medicine, and Chair of Qatar University Academic Promotions Committee. Areas of his research interests include lymphatics and lymphoid organs, morphological variations, human fascia, radiologic and anthropological anatomy, and Medical Education. He published over 70 papers in highly rated international journals. He is a member in several international scientific organizations and societies. He is also editor, associate editor and reviewer in several regional and international medical journals. He supervised several postgraduate students and acted as an external and internal examiner on many occasions.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FGKmK0oAAAAJ&hl=en

Dr. Ala-Eddin Al Moustafa   Professor of Cell Biology

Dr. Ala-Eddin Al Moustafa, is a professor at the College of Medicine of Qatar University (QU) and an associate member of the BRC of QU, he is also still affiliated with his previous institution, the Oncology Department of McGill University, as an adjunct professor. Dr. Al Moustafa has been a cancer scientist since completing his Ph.D. in 1992 at the University of Paris XIII, Paris, France. He did his training as a postdoctoral fellow in Montreal, Canada. Afterward, Dr. Al Moustafa held a position as a PI and an Assistant Professor at the Lady Davis Institute (LDI) for Medical Research of JGH and the Oncology Dept. of McGill University, respectively. He also was the founder and the scientific director of the first Research Cancer Centre in Aleppo-Syria. Dr. Al Moustafa has published more than one hundred papers, book and book chapters on different aspects of human cancer including oncogene cooperation, cDNA and tissue microarray, HPVs and EBV. During his career, Dr. Al Moustafa has obtained several grants from highly respected organizations in France and Canada, such as the French Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Cancer Research Society and Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada as well as QNRF and Qatar University.   On the other hand, Dr. Al Moustafa founded the Middle Eastern Association of Cancer Research (MEACR), and its official scientific peer-reviewed journal, the Clinical Cancer Investigation Journal (CCIJ). Dr. Al Moustafa is the principal organizer of the annual meetings of the MEACR and serves as the editor in chief of the CCIJ since their establishment in 2009 and 2011, respectively. Recently, Dr. Al Moustafa initiated the organization of Qatar Cancer Research Day in collaboration with Qatar Cancer Society and Qatar University, which is planned to be held annually in Doha, Qatar. Dr. Al Moustafa main research focuses on the roles of several Oncogenes, gene cooperation and oncoviruses, especially high-risk HPV and EBV in human carcinogenesis and metastasis. He is also interested in exploring the roles of EGF-receptor members in the progression of human cancer through their interactions with cell-cell adhesion proteins.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=25s5dVIAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Bared Garabedian, Professor of Biochemistry

Bared Safieh-Garabedian is a Professor of Biochemistry, at the CMED, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Qatar University. He obtained his BSc degree in Biochemistry and Physiology from Salford University, UK. His MSc degree was Steroid Endocrinology, Leeds University, UK. This was followed by a Ph.D. in Steroid Biochemistry from Kings College, University of London. Since then he has spent most of his life in Academia and research. After a postdoctoral position at St Thomas’s hospital, he became a Senior Scientist at the Department of Anatomy, University College London. He then accepted the position of Assistant professor at the Department of Biology, American University of Beirut, where he was promoted to Professor. During this period, he was a visiting professor at Queen Mary University of London whereby he was made an Honorary Professor (Institute of Cell and Molecular Sciences, The Medical School). He held also the position of Professor at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, before Joining Qatar University in 2014. He is internationally recognized for his research in the interactions of the nervous and the immune system and its implications in inflammation and its role in neurological disorders. His translational research is focused on developing novel therapeutic approaches to pathologies associated with uncontrolled inflammation. He has a patent on a peptide, which has demonstrated powerful anti-inflammatory actions. This peptide has successfully underwent phase I clinical trials in France. His current research is based on identifying targets for this peptide to help explain the mechanism of action. Professor Safieh-Garabedian has published more than 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals (Google Scholar h-index 32, 5331 citations).

Pubmed link: https://preview.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=safieh-Garabedian+b

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Bg4os2cAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Laiche Djouhri, Professor of Physiology

Dr. Djouhri obtained his Ph.D. in Physiology in 1991 at Sheffield University, UK. For his postdoctoral training, he worked for about 5 years at Edinburgh University (UK), investigating interactions between spinal cord neurons at the level of the spinal cord. Then he moved to work, as a research scientist for about 10 years with Prof. Sally Lawson at the University of Bristol (UK) where he was investigating the role of primary afferent DRG neurons in chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain. He also worked for about a year with Prof. Michael Gold at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA. He then moved to work as a lecturer (assistant professor) and principal investigator for 5 years at the University of Liverpool (UK). In September 2012, he left the UK and moved to KSA where he worked as an associate professor for 2 years at King Faisal University (KSA) before moving to King Saud University (KSA) where he worked as a Full Professor in Physiology and as a director of PG studies in Department of Physiology. In August 2018, he joined Qatar University to work as a professor in Physiology at the College of Medicine. Throughout his career Professor, Djouhri has been using different approaches including the challenging and very demanding in vivo electrophysiology technique to investigate the role of ion channels and cytokines in chronic inflammatory pain and neuropathic pain including diabetic and chemotherapy-induced neuropathies. Nonetheless, he published 53 research articles in reputed peer-reviewed international journals. He is the first or last author in most of his publications. The total impact factor for his papers is >190; h-index= 23; i10-index =31; Citations >3500 (source: Google Scholar).

My research is focussed on the understanding of the processing of nociceptive “pain” information and in the peripheral mechanisms underlying hyperexcitability of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, and the hypersensitivity associated with chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain (NP), major health problems. My current research interests include the role of the immune and nervous systems and ion channels (e.g. KCNQ/Kv7, and HCN channels) in spontaneous activity in DRG neurons that drive chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain. I have been using the following animal (rat) models of chronic pain and approaches:

Animal models of chronic pain

• CFA (Complete Freund’s adjuvant) model of chronic inflammatory pain
• SNL (spinal nerve ligation) model of neuropathic pain
• STZ (Streptozotocin) model of diabetes-induced neuropathic pain
• Paclitaxel model of chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain

Approaches/techniques

• In vivo single-electrode voltage clamp (SEVC) recordings in anaesthetized rats.
• In vivo voltage recordings in anaesthetized rats coupled with dye-injection and immunocytochemistry
• Immunohistochemistry of whole DRGs.
• Pharmacological and behavioural studies to examine the effects of modulating ion channels (e.g. HCN and Kv7) and proinflammatory mediators (e.g. cytokines and NGF) on the excitability of nociceptors and pain hypersensitivity in the aforementioned animal models of chronic pain.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bZOxBqEAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Naila Rabbani, Professor of Basic Medical Science

I am a biomedical research scientist with over 20 years’ experience in clinical translational research. I use quantitative proteomics and related techniques to study processes of endogenous damage to proteins (glycation, oxidation, nitration and other) to study mechanisms of health impairment and disease. This is also known as AGEomics. My research focus is obesity, diabetes and related vascular complications and comorbidities, arthritis and autism. I use the reference technique of stable isotope dilution analysis LCMS/MS in my studies. Protein damage reflects mechanistic functional impairment of proteins close to the phenotype of health impairment and disease, facilitating the discovery of therapeutics and mechanistic biomarkers. Allied to this, I employ AI machine learning for the development of algorithms combining clinical features and biomarkers for diagnosis, risk prediction and therapeutic monitoring. See the links

https://www.facebook.com/AlarabyEntertainment/posts/1120844901391657

https://www.facebook.com/AlarabyEntertainment/videos/1138539959622151/

Research Interest

• Innovative analytical techniques to study protein Biomarkers in diabetes, ageing and disease.
• Metabolomics and proteomics of protein damage – Proteome hotspots of glycation, oxidation and nitration damage, amino acid and damaged amino acid metabolome. Biomarkers for risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and Arthritis.
• Diagnostics: Blood-based test using protein damage markers for early diagnosis of Autism
• Glyoxalase 1: Development of glyoxalase1 inducer therapeutics for diabetes and diabetic complications, cardiovascular disease and healthy ageing
• Dysfunctional metabolism of thiamine (vitamin B1) Thiamine supplements for prevention and reversal of early-stage diabetic complications.

Current research projects:

• A simple blood test for autism – further clinical development and validation
• A blood test for diagnosis, progression and therapeutic monitoring of early-stage decline in skeletal health and  arthritis (clinical and veterinary
• Drug-induced proteotoxicity to SARS-CoV-2 virus as a novel strategy for therapy COVID-19 disease
• Methylglyoxal (dicarbonyl stress) in obesity, diabetes and related vascular complications

Collaborations

• Internal: KINDI, BRC, Center for Sustainable Development, College of Pharmacy and Environmental Science Center
• National: QBRI, Sidra
• International: Spain, UK – Oxford, Finland, Philadelphia-USA, Toronto, Canada, Kanazawa, Japan

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=P5f2lnoAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Saghir Akhtar

Saghir Akhtar is currently Professor of Pharmacology at the College of Medicine, Qatar University and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Drug Targeting. He was previously Professor of Drug Delivery in the Welsh School of Pharmacy and Director for the Centre for Genome-based Therapeutics, Cardiff University, UK and more recently as Professor of Molecular Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University,

Prof Akhtar obtained a First Class honors degree in Pharmacy from the Leicester School of Pharmacy (UK) and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Bath in the UK. He then undertook a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina Medical School at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA and began his independent academic career at Aston University (Birmingham, UK), firstly as lecturer and then as Reader in Pharmaceutical Sciences. He was also a visiting fellow in the Department of Biochemistry, Oxford University, UK (with Professor Ed Southern).

He has published well over 120 full peer-reviewed research articles in leading journals and holds several patents that have emanated from his research in medical and health sciences. In addition, Prof Akhtar has trained and mentored many research students and post-doctoral fellows and serves the research community through his roles as Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor and Editorial Board member of several peer-reviewed research journals. Prof Akhtar has also served as an invited organizer and/or keynote speaker at numerous international conferences.

Professor Akhtar’s research and teaching has been recognized internationally with the award of several prestigious prizes including the Lilly Prize, the Pfizer Academic Award, the British Pharmaceutical Conference Science Medal, the Controlled Release Society (USA) Young Investigator Research Achievement Award, the Kappa Society Science Award and the Fazlur Rahman Khan Award for Excellence in Engineering, Science and Technology (London, UK). In 2020, he also received one of the top two best teacher awards from students at the College of Medicine at Qatar University.

In addition to his research and teaching, Prof Akhtar has previously held several senior administrative positions including as Head of Department and Director of Postgraduate studies. He has also served as a curriculum advisor and external examiner for several international universities.

Research interests

Professor Akhtar conducts basic and translational research in the fields of cancer and diabetes.  Current research interests include studying a) the molecular pharmacology and signal transduction pathways involved in breast and brain cancers, diabetes and/or hypertension-induced cardiovascular dysfunction; b) the nanotoxicology and biological activity of novel drug delivery systems especially for gene silencing nucleic acid-based nanomedicines and c) the impact of pharmacotherapy on clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=vJQ51RMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works

Dr. Ayman Mustafa, Associate Professor in Anatomy

Dr. Ayman Mustafa has earned his Ph.D. in Anatomy from University of Kentucky USA in 2010. Since then, he has been teaching anatomical sciences to medical students in Jordan and Qatar. His passion toward his career in teaching motivated Dr. Ayman to get involved in medical education research. In addition to that, Dr Ayman is interested in human morphology and its application in forensic sciences. He conducted several studies in this field and published them in reputable international journals. Dr. Ayman has been serving as an editorial member of and a reviewer for several international journals. Dr. Ayman is also interested in antioxidant-oxidant homeostasis in biological systems. During the course of his academic career, Dr. Ayman attended and participated in several international conferences in the United States, Austria, Croatia, Slovakia, Portugal, Malaysia, Italy, France, and Turkey. Now, Dr. Ayman Mustafa is an associate professor of Anatomy at the college of medicine, Qatar University.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tRB7zGoAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Mohamed Emara , Associate Professor of Microbiology

Dr. Mohamed Emara is an Associate Professor of Microbiology at CMED-QU. He has 20 years of experience in the field of molecular and cell biology with a specific focus on understanding the gene transcriptional regulation in cells subjected to different types of stresses. Dr. Emara has his PhD from Georgia State University, where he is the first one to discover the inhibition of specific stress related genes in cells infected with viruses and understand the exact pathways behind this inhibition (Emara and Brinton, 2007, PNAS). He is one of the pioneers to establish a virus-cell system to study the effect of different viruses on the molecular components of cell stress response program and how it regulates cell gene expression, which is a widely used approach today (Emara and Brinton, 2007, PNAS; Khaperskyy, Emara, et al., 2014, PloS Pathogen). As a molecular and cell biologist at Harvard Medical School, he is the first one to report the ability of different cells to control the expression of certain genes in response to a specific type of non-coding RNA molecules to induce the formation of SGs in different types of cells (Emara et al, 2010, JBC). Along with his colleagues, he was able to discover the novel function of this RNA and identify the pathways and mechanisms of how those genes are regulated within the cell (Ivanov, Emara, et al, 2011, Mol Cell). Recently, he was among the group who identify a protective effect of the DNA form these RNA molecules in motor neurons and highlight its possible role in motor neuron diseases pathogenesis (Ivanov, O’Day, Emara, et al., 2014, PNAS). In 2012, Dr. Emara moved to Qatar and joined QBRI, his research focus was directed towards using iPSC in disease modeling. Since he came to QBRI, he has been focused in establishing an iPSC niche at QBRI, where he is a key member in founding a fully functional stem cell platform at QBRI. Dr. Emara has a number of peer-reviewed international articles, one book chapter, and is an inventor on three international patents.

Dr. Emara research focuses is directed towards using iPSC in disease modeling of Cystic Fibrosis (CF). His lab generate iPSC from CF patients in Qatar, differentiate them into airway organoids, and perform transcriptomic and epigenomic analysis on these organoids aiming to identifying candidate genes that play role in the disease pathogenesis. Another branch in Dr. Emara’s lab is the understanding the possible role of stress response program components in regulating stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, with a special focus on airway differentiation. His lab was the first to elucidate the possible role of SGs in regulating stem cell fate (Palangi et al., 2017, PloS ONE). Also, he is currently a key member of other collaborative projects to use iPSC approach in modeling diabetes and ASD.  Dr. Emara’s team is composed of a highly experienced senior research associate, research assistant, and six undergraduate students. Team members are highly skilled in cell culture, molecular and cell biology techniques and are well trained to handle iPSC cell lines and characterize them in a very efficient and reliable way.

Google scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=X0394fsAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Susu Zughaier , Assistant Professor of Microbiology

Dr. Susu Zughaier is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology. Trained as a clinical microbiologist, earned a Diploma in Clinical Microbiology, University College London; MSc in Medical Microbiology and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Cardiff University, UK. She did her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. Dr. Zughaier was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, USA before joining Qatar University College of Medicine in Fall 2017. Her research interests are focused on host-pathogen interactions and vaccine development. She investigates antibiotic resistance mechanisms and implements nanotechnology for rapid detection of bacterial infections. Her translational research is focused on vitamin D immune-modulatory effects. To date, Dr. Zughaier published more than 48 scientific research papers and awarded two patents on her discoveries. She serves as the Scientific Microbiology Councilor for the International Endotoxin and Innate Immunity Society. She serves as Guest Editor, editorial board member and ad-hoc reviewer for multiple international journals. Dr. Zughaier is an expert in Meningococcal and Gonococcal nanovaccines and therefore served as consulted for Pfizer and the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2019 she joined Bacterial Vaccines Experts Network (BactiVac), University of Birmingham UK. Dr. Zughaier Google Scholar H-index is 28 and i10 index is 43, and her research is highly cited with more than 9,000 citations. Dr Susu Zughaier Laboratory is currently awarded NPRP12S grant, as well as QU internal, collaborative and student grants.

Research Interests:

Dr. Susu Zughaier research interests are focused on host-pathogen interactions, vaccine development and antibiotic resistance. She implements nanotechnology for rapid detection of bacterial infections and nanovaccine development and she has several international collaborations. Her translational research is focused on vitamin D immune modulatory effects. Dr. Zughaier research laboratory at Qatar University implements various biological and molecular methods, as well as in silico and bioinformatics approaches.  Current projects are:

• A: Host-pathogen interactions: Main research interests are in the field of host-pathogen interactions focusing on Toll-like Receptors and Innate Immunity in terms of macrophage inflammatory immune responses, epigenetic adaptation, and autophagy modulation in response to bacterial infection, bacterial virulence and immune evasion mechanisms.
• B: Antibiotics resistance mechanisms in terms of mobile genetic determinants that transfer resistance among bacterial pathogens in Qatar; how antibiotic resistance enables bacterial survival in the host and identifying novel bacterial targets for antibiotic adjuvants discovery.
• C: Vitamin D immune modulatory effects: Vitamin D status and it association with chronic diseases in Qatar in collaboration with Qatar Bio Bank as the main source for population-based biological data.
• D: Nanotechnology based research for biosensor and nanovaccines discovery: Developing sensor for rapid detection of bacterial infections in biological fluids using nano-substrates and smart material; as well as developing bacterial nanovaccine formulations for novel vaccine discovery and enhanced delivery methods for current vaccine.
• E: COVID19 in-house serology test: Developing a quantitative ELISA based serology test to assess antibody titers against SARS-CoV2.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XaxSmOwAAAAJ&hl=en

Dr. Abdella Habib, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry

Dr. Abdella M Habib was appointed as an assistant professor of Biochemistry at the college of medicine (CMED) in 2017; and he is also a visiting researcher/lecturer (assistant professor) in Metabolism and Experimental Therapeutics at University College London, U.K.

Before joining CMED, he undertook post-doctoral training at the University of Cambridge and University College London, the U.K. and post-graduate training at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA. He holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge and a bachelor’s degree from Imperial College London, U.K.

His research activities relate primarily to the nutrient-sensing endocrine cells in the intestine and the genetics of damage-sensing neurons particularly in the context of pain, diabetes, appetite regulation, critical illness, and aging.

Dr. Abdella M Habib has co-authored in top-tier scientific journals including Nature Medicine, Cell Metabolism, PNAS, Brain, the British Journal of Anaesthesia, Diabetes, Diabetologia as well as a book chapter. These papers have been cited in scientific literature 490 times in 2017 and 550 times in 2018 (source: google scholar).

His most recent works published in the neurology journal Brain, 2018 and the British Journal of Anaesthesia, 2019 result from work studying families with rare Mendelian pain disorders in which two novel pain insensitivity genes were discovered, ZFHX2 and FAAH-OUT. These discoveries attracted worldwide media attention including The New York Times, Nature, Smithsonian magazine, BBC and Aljazeera and are in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric (source: https://oxfordjournals.altmetric.com/details/30415264; https://www.altmetric.com/details/57897288 ).

Dr. Abdella M Habib’s research is being performed on a collaborative basis with research institutions in Europe and Qatar and would welcome enquiries from researchers and clinicians who wish to collaborate.

Interested Master and Ph.D. students, please email : ahabib@qu.edu.qa  to discuss availability.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tLpirtgAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Abdallah Musa Abdallah, Assistant professor of Genetics

Dr. Abdallah Musa Abdallah received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology/Molecular Genetics from the VU University Amsterdam, College of Medicine (2008). His dissertation work focused on several aspects of protein secretion mechanisms in mycobacteria and subsequently, the role of this secretion system and its substrates in virulence. Following postdoctoral appointments at the VU medical Centre and The Netherlands Cancer Institute, he started his academic career at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, KSA. He also serves as the lead of the Genomics Core Facility before joining Qatar University, College of Medicine in Fall 2019. Dr. Abdallah has an extensive experience in the fields of Genetics as well as Microbiology and molecular/cell biology and he is an expert in (myco)bacterial genetics and bacterial cell envelope processes. His research interests are focused on the area of Microbial Genetics, host-pathogen interaction and molecular pathogenesis of infectious agents, in particular as these fields related to pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. He investigates and describes the function of the ESX-5 secretion system in tuberculosis and he coined the term type VII secretion for these systems (Abdallah AM et al., Nature Rev Microbiol 2007). To date, Dr. Abdallah published more than 40 papers in peer reviewed high impact international leading journals including Nature genetics, Nature Microbiology and Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Dr. Abdallah joined the Qatar University, College of Medicine as an Assistant Professor on August 2019.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=i3uMg1wAAAAJ&hl=en

Dr. Farhan Cyprian, Assistant Professor of Immunology

Dr. Cyprian served as an assistant professor at the College of Medicine, UoS, UAE prior to joining CMED at Qatar University. He was working at Sharjah Institute for Medical Research where he contributed in the establishment of many active research projects in addition to designing the animal facility. Trained as a physician he joined cancer research at Prof Philippe Bouvet lab in ENS Lyon identifying the formation of nucleolin at the transcriptomic level and later at Institut Mérieux and Centre Leon Berard Lyon, France, Elucidating T cell regulation by regulatory factors such as transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β).

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oKsJU6YAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Hamda Al-Thawadi, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology

Dr. Hamda AL-Thawadi is an assistant professor in College of Medicine, Qatar University. She was awarded by H. H. Sh. Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani the Scientific Excellence Award in 2017 for the best Ph.D. thesis in Qatar. Dr. Hamda obtained her Ph.D. in molecular biology (cancer) in 2015 from Paris Saclay University, Paris, France. She worked on different projects in molecular biology in different labs in Paris such as Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, Hôpital Saint-Antoine and Faculté de Médecine VI, Paris, France. Furthermore, she worked on different projects about ovarian cancer in research labs of Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar.

Dr. Hamda gained her BSc. and MD. from Arabian Gulf University, Medical College, the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2005. She has done her internship and residency in Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. Before joining QU, She joined Qatar Foundation in 2009 as a research analyst working on evaluating research proposals for international organizations and establishing partnerships with different institutes in and outside Qatar. In 2011 she started the Qatar Research Leadership Program-Science track where after that she has completed this program and graduated in 2015.

Dr. Karim Nagi, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

Dr. Karim Nagi received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Montreal, Canada in 2015. He has a broad base of skills and experience in molecular pharmacology, proteins trafficking, signaling biosensors and bias signaling. Dr. Nagi has also ample of experience in monitoring protein-protein interactions in real-time and in living cells using cutting edge biophysical methods like BRET. This last expertise made him collaborate with scientists from Pfizer, USA in a project that aims to identify biased therapeutic compounds with reduced side effects. Dr. Nagi has authored several publications in highly ranked scientific journals and 60+ presentations in national and international scientific meetings. He has also been invited to present at several international conferences in Australia and Canada. The quality of his projects was acknowledged by eight presentation awards in scientific conferences, several travel awards, and his studies were supported by a number of fellowship awards including CHU Sainte-Justine and Foundation of Stars fellowship, fellowship from the Department of Pharmacology and a fellowship from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, University of Montreal. He was also granted a Recognition Award for the Best Scientific Contribution of the year at the Department of Pharmacology in 2015. After completing his graduate studies, Dr. Nagi continued focusing his research interests in characterizing several membrane receptors’ signaling and trafficking and completed two postdoctoral trainings at Duke University Medical Center, USA. The expertise that Dr. Nagi acquired during his postdoctoral positions provided an important complement to his graduate work, and together these two phases of his training constitute the foundation of his current research program.

Google scholar:  https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=nlBhV3EAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Mohammed Malki, Assistant Professor of Pathology

Dr. Malki received his PhD in Pathology from Liverpool University after successfully awarded a prestigious PhD studentship. Dr. Malki joined CMED as an Assistant Professor of Pathology in 2018.  He has been a clinical academic at the Universities of Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle since 2013, initially as a clinical research fellow then a clinical lecturer of pathology (honorary) with a great experience in both basic and translational medicine. His main interests are on identification and characterization of the genes involved in malignant progression of prostate and breast cancers. His work is also extended to the identification of the possible biomarkers for prediction of the malignant tendency of the weakly malignant prostatic carcinomas.

Dr. Malki published in well-regarded specialist journals (e.g. British Journal of Cancer, International Journal of Oncology and Cancers) and generic journals (e.g. Genes and Cancer, Cancer Research) and presented in many national and international conferences. He has also been awarded several prizes and bidden successfully for large grants as a Lead Principle Investigator from QU and worldwide. Dr. Malki serves as associate reviewers for multiple international journals. He was also elected as an Ambassador of the European Association of Cancer Research (EACR) and a member of the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Dr. Mubarak Bidmos, Assistant Professor of Anatomy

Mubarak Bidmos graduated from the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos in 1996 and completed his internship training in the four major clinical disciplines at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos. He obtained MSc (2002) and Ph.D. (2009) degrees in anatomy from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. During his time at Wits University, he was the course director of anatomy for medical students and taught gross anatomy and embryology to dental, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and pharmacy students. He also has an extensive teaching experience at the University of Toronto in Canada where he taught in the faculties of Medicine, Pharmacy, Kinesiology and Arts and Science. In addition, he taught anatomy at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine. His research interest is in the establishment and validation of standards for human identification from skeletons. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles in reputable journals. He is currently the Sectional Editor of Forensic Science International: Reports and acts as a reviewer for a number of journals in anatomy and anthropology.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5pvWKY0AAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Sami Ismail Zaqout, Assistant Professor of Anatomy

Sami Zaqout is an Assistant Professor of Anatomy at the Faculty of Medicine, Qatar University. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Medicine from Damascus University and MSc. in Anatomy from Jordan University of Science and Technology, after which he worked as a lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza, for four years. In 2017 he obtained his MD/Ph.D. degree in Medical Neurosciences at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany. He then assumed a position as a Research Associate at the same university till June 2019. During his postgraduate research, he published ten scientific articles focusing on the cerebral cortical development. One of his major research skills is performing Golgi staining method in studying nerve cells. His paper on this method has been cited in more than forty articles within the first three years from the date of publication. In addition, he practiced immunohistochemistry, histological preparations of different tissues, western blot, primary neuronal culture and live cell imaging. He experimented teaching Anatomy to medical students using human cadavers, plastic anatomical models and computer 3-D software in Palestine, Jordan and Germany. Through his current position at Qatar University, he is looking forward to sharing his experience and learning from students and colleagues alike.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MMa7CjgAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Semir Vranic, Assistant professor of Pathology

Dr. Vranic graduated from the University Of Sarajevo School Of Medicine in 2004. Completed residency program in pathology in 2011 and obtained PhD in pathology in 2012 at the Zagreb University School of Medicine. Worked as a consultant pathologist at the Department of Pathology, Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo from 2012-2017. Joined the College of Medicine, Qatar University in September 2017. Did two post-doc fellowships (2008/2009 at the Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, USA; 2012/2013, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Italy). Additional training programs in breast pathology were completed at Nottingham City Hospital (UK) in 2008 and at Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust/King's College London (2012). Was awarded as UICC Lifetime Fellow in 2010 and "The rising stars in pathology" by the Pathologist in 2016. Active in many professional and academic associations related to pathology and academic/scientific publishing (USCAP, European Society of Pathology, UICC, COPE, WAME, CSE). Actively involved in pathology education through establishment of the Bryan Warren School of Pathology (since 2007 annually) in collaboration with the British Division of the International Academy of Pathology (BDIAP) and Bosnian Turkish School of Cytopathology (since 2016 annually) in collaboration with the Turkish Division of IAP (TDIAP). Served as a president of national association of pathologists in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2015-2017). Has been section editor and editor-in-chief of Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences (since 2014), consulting editor in Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy (since 2015), academic editor in PLOS One (since 2018), associate editor in Cancer Cell International (since 2019) and editorial board member of Annals of Translational Medicine (2017-2019). Has been serving as a peer-reviewer for >50 academic biomedical journals.

Research interests:

Has been actively involved in breast cancer, genitourinary and gynecologic cancer research as well as novel predictive biomarkers for precision medicine purposes (>90 peer-reviewed publications + 90 abstracts for scientific conferences/meetings). Published one book (Review of Gynecologic and Breast Pathology, 2017) and three book chapters (one in Encyclopedia of Pathology, Springer 2018, one in WHO Classification of Breast Tumors, IARC Lyon, 2019 (in press) and one in book “Precision Medicine in Cancer Therap

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9FowakAAAAAJ&hl=en

Dr. Nagendra Babu, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

Nagendra Babu Thillaiappan trained as a pharmacist and then held positions in industry before completing an MSc in Pharmacology at the University of Oxford, during which he worked on pharmacological tools to aid clinical diagnosis of Gaucher disease. He was then awarded a Cambridge International Scholarship at the University of Cambridge, where he completed a Ph.D. in Pharmacology exploring the relationships between the geography and dynamics of IP3 receptors and the Ca2+ signals they generate, using gene-editing and optical microscopy. His postdoctoral work at Cambridge with Professor Colin Taylor investigated the mechanisms that license IP3 receptor activity. Presently, he is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the College of Medicine, Qatar University.

Nagendra Babu has expertise in calcium signaling, cell biology, advanced optical imaging and analysis including super-resolution imaging, molecular biology including gene-editing and laboratory-based teaching of in vitro and in vivo pharmacology. He managed an optical imaging facility in Cambridge and has a special interest in advanced optical microscopic methods including super-resolution microscopy. Nagendra Babu has published his research in high-impact journals and has been selected to speak at international conferences of The Physiological Society, UK and the Biophysical Society, USA. His research interests include calcium signaling with a special emphasis on IP3 receptors, its contribution to health and disease and use of bioinformatics and artificial intelligence in biology. He is actively involved in teaching and research and is interested in public understanding of science through outreach activities.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=2E1cM68AAAAJ&hl=en 

Clinical Science Department

Dr. Alison Carr, Associate Dean for Clinical Education

Professor Alison Sylvia Carr has been the Associate Dean for Clinical Education in the College of Medicine since December 2018, responsible for the curriculum and assessment of the clinical components of the MD program. Alison was initially Head of Clinical Education and Professor in the College of Medicine since her appointment in March 2016 and responsible for designing and developing all clinical components of the MD program and the hospital clerkships which were launched successfully in January 2019.

Alison brings to Qatar experience of all aspects of medical education and a track record of establishing new organizations in healthcare education.  Alison led the development of the clinical years of the newly formed Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) in 2002. From publications of student feedback in the UK, it is ranked a top program for preparing students for clinical practice and it received excellent commendations from the General Medical Council. Alison has held a number of senior education leadership roles in England in undergraduate medicine, postgraduate medicine and in developing national policy: Director of Postgraduate Education for Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and Medical Director for the new Postgraduate Diploma in Physician Associate Studies (2002- 2006), Senior Clinical Advisor to the Medical Education and Training Programme of the Department of Health in London (2008- 2013) and in Health Education England (2013- 2014); Deputy Postgraduate Dean in the new South West Peninsula Postgraduate Deanery (2005-8), Director of Phase 2 curriculum for PCMD (2002-5), Foundation Programme Director in Plymouth (2004-5), Education Director for the South West School of Anaesthesia (2001-5) and College Tutor in Plymouth (1999- 2002).  As well as her educational roles, Alison has also maintained her clinical practice as a Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist. She worked as a doctor for over 30 years in the NHS and achieved a Silver National Clinical Excellence Award in 2014 for excellence in clinical practice, leadership, research and innovation, and teaching undertaken in the NHS (awarded to less than 2% consultants). She was a Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, England from 1997- 2016. In Qatar, she worked as a Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist at Hamad Medical Corporation (2016-8) and now at Sidra Medicine (since February 2018) one day per week.

In Paediatric Anaesthesia, she was an elected Council member for England for the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain & Ireland (APAGBI) (2006-2013) and established and chaired their new Education and Training Committee (2009-2014). Alison’s research interests in Anaesthesia are the prevention of postoperative vomiting in children and methods of optimising analgesia; and in medical education, in selection and assessment. She chaired the Guidelines Committee on the prevention and treatment of postoperative vomiting in children for the APAGBI and wrote the clinical guidelines that have been introduced into clinical practice internationally (2009-2016). She lead the national statistical evaluation of selection into residency training in England from 2010- 2014. Alison is proud to be a doctor and enjoys transferring some of the enjoyment she has for clinical practice to her medical students in Qatar University.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bPmTMuIAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Khalid Bashir, Clinical Assistant Professor

Department Head of Clinical Academic Sciences

I have worked as an emergency consultant since 2001, initially in the UK for twelve years before coming to Qatar in 2012. As well as completing the American College of Emergency Physicians Teaching Fellowship, I am also a fellow of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and the Royal College of Surgeons – of both Edinburgh and Glasgow. In the UK, I was involved in teaching undergraduate medical students from the Cardiff and Swansea universities and also served as an examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh. My special interests include point of care ultrasound, sports medicine, ENT and pre-hospital care.

Dr. Ayad Moslih, Lecturer of clinical Education

Dr. Al-Moslih, is currently leading the clinical skills program at the College of Medicine, Qatar University. He commenced his career as an emergency physician and chose medical education as a career track where his passion to both of these fields made him combine them in the journey of his career development.Dr. Al-Moslih completed his Master in health professions education at Maastricht University in Netherlands. Moreover, MSc in Disaster Medicine at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Novara, Italy. His interest in training development enabled him to develop and implement several training and assessment programs that focus on introducing novice learners to clinical competences and easing the transfer of learning.

He is also a certified trainer in handful of life support courses within the field of resuscitation, trauma, disaster medical response, Hazmat life support, and point-of-care ultrasound. His research interests revolve around innovative approaches in enhancing learning in undergraduate medical education i.e. ubiquitous learning, learning clinical skills in simulated environments, and assessment of clinical competence.

He has been a Regional/Territory Faculty for the American Heart Association’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) program since 2011; and has lead the Review Commission for the Arabic translation of AHA 2015 Guidelines.

Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=g0j5UaQAAAAJ&hl=en 

Dr. Maha Desouki,  Clinical Tutor

• Graduated (MBBCh.) from faculty of medicine, Cairo University in 2001. Grade excellence with honor.
• Achieved Master degree (MSc.) in pediatrics, Cairo University in 2008. Grade: Very good.
• Worked as a pediatric specialist at El-Galaa Teaching Hospital, General Organization for Teaching Hospitals and Institutes in Cairo from 2008 till 2015.
• Joined CMED Qatar University’s clinical department as a clinical tutor in 2016 and till date.
• Excellent experience in undergraduate tutoring in the clinical education as well as problem-based learning programs.
• Has a growing interest in medical education research, she is working now on student grants and participating in research work with local and international institutes.
• Languages: English and Arabic

Dr. Suhad Daher, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science

Dr. Suhad Daher-Nashif is an assistant professor of behavioral and social sciences in the College of Medicine at Qatar University. Her academic and professional backgrounds involve medical and social disciplines. She holds MSc. in occupational therapy and PhD in sociology and anthropology, with major in anthropology of medicine and culture. Her main research work analyze the intersectionality between science, society and bureaucracy within the modern health systems in the MENA region. She takes forensic medicine and mental health systems as her main fields of research. Her most recent publications: Women’s Health and Well-Being in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: A Narrative Review of Achievements and Gaps in the Gulf States (2020); Colonial management of death; to be or not to be dead in Palestine (2020).

Research interests:

• Forensic medicine
• Mental health
• Socio-cultural and political determinants of health
• Socio-cultural and political determinants of death and dying
• Medicine and humanities,
• Art and medicine
• Medical education

RG account: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Suhad_Daher-Nashif 

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8767-4619