PalBioSys members.
Members are listed by alphabetical order, with the following information
First name, last name
Academic position. email address, telephone, link to web page
Name of the Institution
Description of scientific achievements and interests (10 to 15 lines)
key words
Jehad Abbadi
Associate Professor
jabbadi@science.alquds.edu , jihadabbadi@yahoo.com , Tel +(972) 597637696. (Research
Gate)
Biology department, Al-Quds University, Palestine (www.alquds.edu)
I am an associate professor in plant nutrition. I got my first and second degrees from Al-Quds
University, Jerusalem-Palestine (B.Sc. in Biology and medical technology in 1995 and M.Sc. in
Applied industrial technology in 2002) and the PhD degree in Plant nutrition in 2007 from
Christian-Albrecht’s University, Kiel, Germany.
My Research interests are in different related agricultural fields in which twenty five papers
were already published. My main research interest is characterizing nutrient use efficiency
of plants emphasizing the mechanisms of the nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium uptake
and utilization efficiency parameters including plant and soil parameters (ten papers where
published and data for three manuscripts are collected). Other research interests are: antioxidant contents and their activities of date palm and olive leaves (two papers were
published, data for two manuscripts are collected), factors affecting olive oil quality (three
papers were published, data for one manuscript is collected), sesame oil technology (two
papers), application of plant growth promoting bacteria to enhance growth and yield of
legumes (one paper), wastewater treatment and reuse in agriculture (six papers), effect of
salinity on fruit quality and (one paper). I am interested now in improving water use
efficiency of plants by optimizing K nutrition.
Keywords: nutrient use efficiency, salinity, draught, anti-oxidants, olive oil, wastewater, soil.
Baker Abdalhaq
Assistant Professor
baker@najah.edu, Tel +(972) 599674265, http://staff.najah.edu/baker, (Research Gate)
Computer Information Systems Department, An-Najah University, Palestine
(www.najah.edu)
I received my first degree from PSUT in Jordan and my PhD in Computer Science from the
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain, in 1994 and 2004, respectively.
I occupied the position of Dean of Information Technology faculty and head of computer
information systems for five years. I have published several papers in computational
environment science and engineering. I worked in wild fire simulation. My work was to
assimilate data to make more accurate simulation prediction. The main problem of wield fire
simulation is finding the right input data to have accurate prediction of fire behavior which is
important to manage it and reduce human, ecologic and economic loss. My solution was to
use historical data and heuristic optimization techniques to enhance prediction. I worked in
enhancing and calibrating traffic simulation another time I used heuristic optimization
technique and actual observations to calibrate simulation parameters. I work currently in
reducing car CO2 emission by optimizing road networks; I used heuristic optimization
techniques to find an optimal traffic light signal schedule that affects CO2 emission. My
current research interests are Computational Science, Heuristic optimization techniques and
Simulation.
Mutaz A’kkawi
Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the Department of Life Sciences College of Science
&Technology and Director of the Biochemical laboratory at Al-Quds University, Jerusalem.
Mobile: ++972(0)526435785
E-mail address: akkawi74@gmail.com, makkawi@science.alquds.edu. (Research Gate)
Educated at Birzeit University (West Bank) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem. I am member of the Medical Screening Society, London .UK.
Research interests:
Development of a new potential antimalarial drugs
Chemistry of the malarial pigment hemozoin
We are interested in
1-Building synthetic models for the formation of malarial pigment
2-Screening for a new potential antimalarial drugs using newly developed in Vitro methods.
In Mediterranean region, there are numerous medicinal plants described for treatment of
many diseases. Palestine is distinguished by its unique geographical location at the meeting
point of three continents; Asia, Africa, and Europe. It has a large desert and a lot of
mountains; it is at the coast of the Mediterranean, Herbal medicine is considered an integral
part of the Palestinian culture and plays a pivotal and indispensable role in the current public
healthcare Inadequate supply of drugs, excessive cost of treatments, side effects of several
drugs and development of resistance to currently used drugs for infectious diseases, (which
means the ability of the pathogen to survive and multiply despite the administration of a
drug in doses equal to or higher than those usually recommended) which is proving to be a
challenging problem in disease control in most parts of the world, and led to increased
emphasis on the use of plant materials as a source of medicines for a wide variety of human
ailments. Over the last two years our laboratory has optimized the so called beta-hematin
inhibition test and used it for several plants. We have been able to confirm the strong
antimalarial properties of well-known plants like Artemisia annua, Artemisia sieberi or
Artemisia afra, but also for other plants of our region like Inula viscosa. We have also been
able to demonstrate that additives like sodium bicarbonate enhance the properties of
aqueous infusions
Key words: Malarial pigment ,β-hematin, Antimalarial drugs , hemozoin
Raed Alkowni
Associate Professor
Biology and Biotechnology Department; Faculty of Science; An-Najah National University
Tel: (00972)-599794013; e-mail: ralkowni@najah.edu
Areas of interest: Molecular Biology of Plant Viruses; Virus identification; Bioinformatics
analysis; Application of molecular tools for epidemiological studies; Assessments of virus
population genetic diversity; Phytosanitary.
Ecological studies on Conservation Biology; Molecular assessments of genetic and biological
diversity; In vitro Conservation of medicinal plants diversity; Phytoremediation
Proposed researches to be carried in the coming future:
 Quick detection and identification of plant pathogens using serological and / or
molecular tools
 Molecular identification and use of Rhizobacteria in improvement of
phytoremediation
Rashed Al-Sa`ed
Associate Professor
rsaed@birzeit.edu, rashed.alsaed@gmail.com, Tel +(972) 59-9999-820. (Research Gate).
Environmental Science & Engineering. Birzeit University, Palestine
My research interests focus on environmental processes pertinent to water and wastewater
treatment and bioremediation of polluted soil and stream sediments using advanced
analytical techniques. Research outputs of the past research projects provided diverse
practical solutions for urgent community water and sanitation challenges. Together with
international networks, recent research line tackles insight explorations to understand
biofouling and granular sludge ecosystem in membrane bioreactors [MBR] enabling better
process control and performance stability. I also work on application of innovative tools and
pilots to investigate beneficial usage of reclaimed water and biosolids as well as organic
matter conversion into biofuels and thermal energy. Seeking cooperative research linkages
applying microscopy, simulation and modeling of biofilms in water networks and sewage
works including bioremediation of degraded ecosystems in surface water bodies are also
research interests, worth for exploration.
Key words: Environmental processes, bioremediation, membrane bioreactor, biofilm,
microscopy, biofuels, simulation and modeling, ecosystem”
Rabah Boukherroub
CNRS Research Director & Group leader at the Institute of Electronics, Microelectronics and
Nanotechnology (IEMN, UMR CNRS 8520), University Lille1, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France
E-mail: rabah.boukherroub@iemn.univ-lille1.fr Tel : +33 3 62 53 17 24 (Web site)
My research interests are in the area of synthesis of functional nanomaterials (organic, metal
and semiconductor nanoparticles, semiconductor nanowires, graphene, carbon dots, etc),
surface chemistry, and photophysics of semiconductor/metal nanostructures with emphasis
on biosensors and lab-on-chip applications, drug delivery, and development of new tools for
studying molecular dynamics in vivo.
Key words: nanomaterials, surface chemistry, nanomedicine, biosensors
Claudine Chaouiya
Principal Investigator, chaouiya@igc.gulbenkian.pt (web site)
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (Oeiras Portugal)
I got a PhD in Computer Science in 1992, from University of Nice Sophia Antipolis and
obtained an “Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches” in 2007, at the University J. Fourier,
Grenoble.
I started my research career by developing models of industrial systems, using queuing
networks and Petri nets. Since 2001, my activity has been related to the study the complex
regulatory and signaling networks that drive biological processes. In this context, I mainly
rely on the qualitative, logical formalism. My work is organized along 3 lines: (1) methods, (2)
software suites publicly available, (3) models of key cellular processes (proliferation,
differentiation, apoptosis, etc.).
I am now particularly interested in interaction networks involved in complex diseases.
Performed in a close collaboration with biologists, these studies motivate and validate new
methodological developments.
For multi-cellular systems involving cell-cell communication, my team has recently defined
new means, which include (logical) model composition and a novel framework based on
cellular automata.
Keywords: Discrete events systems, logical modelling, regulatory and signaling networks
Amer Kanan
Ph.D., Head of the Environment and Earth Sciences Department at the College of Science
and Technology, Al-Quds University Abu Dies, Palestine.
E mail : akanan@science.alquds.edu, amerkanan@gmail.com. (web page)
Tel +972 2799753, +972 599721143
From 2005 to the present, I have served on the Faculty of the Environment and Earth
Sciences Department of Al-Quds University where I teach a number of classes covering
Environmental Pollution and Prevention, Environmental Education and Awareness,
Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Microbiology, Organics in the Environment,
Environment and Public Health and other basic and introductory environment and biology
courses. As well, I am also the coordinator for the Master’s Program in Environmental
Science at the University, and the coordinator of the course, the Nature and the
Environment of Palestine. I earned my Ph.D. from Clemson University in the United States.
My Thesis title is: Occurrence and Formation of Disinfection By-Products in Indoor Swimming
Pools Water. I have contributed many scientific journals and publications and I have
participated in various national and international conferences.
I am interested in water resource management especially in their pollution and pollution
prevention methods. More precisely I am focusing in my research on organic pollutants
either entering water bodies from different contamination sources or those which are
arising as disinfection byproducts following drinking, treated wastewater, and swimming
water disinfection.
Laurent Heliot
PhD & HDR, IRHC CNRS. Leader of the group Biophotonics.
Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules (PhLAM) CNRS & Lille1 University,
France
tel +33(0) 3 62 53 17 35. laurent.heliot@univ-lille1.fr. (web page)
Biophotonics takes advantage of photon/living matter interactions to explore and
manipulate living systems. In 2006, I have created the Biophotonics team in the "Institut de
Recherche Interdisciplinaire" of CNRS. In 2014 this group has been integrated in the "
Dynamique non linéaire des Systèmes Optiques et Biologiques" team of PhLAM. The group is
composed of cellular and molecular biologists, physicists, Instrumentalists and computer
scientists; in addition we collaborate with mathematicians.
We develop instruments and software methods for measuring molecular interactions in
living cells by fluorescence lifetime techniques (Waharte et al. 2005, Spriet et al. 2006- 2007,
Karpova et al., 2008, Leray et al 2009 -2013, Heinrich et al, 2014). In order to define whether
these interacting factors are part of large transcription factories or signalling platforms, we
are currently coupling FLIM with Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS). We apply
these developments to study transcriptional regulation (Karpova et al., 2008; Flajollet et
al., 2013, Vandenbuder et al., 2014) and intracellular trafficking and signalling (Gidon et al,
2012; Laffray et al. 2012;). At the same time, we develop non linear optical approaches in
fluorescence (TPE, FLIM) and Raman imaging (CARS, SRS). We have developed a dedicated
laser source for CARS microscopy and we applied this technique for studying lipids in cell
and adaptative stress responses of copepods (Krill) (Hage et al., 2014).
Our goal is to imagine novel technologies and methods for real-time imaging of molecular
regulation activities in living cells. Currently, we focus on the dynamics of gene expression
regulatory networks controlling cell fate during adaptative responses to stress and circadian
oscillation.
Key words: biophotonics, transcriptional regulation, Molecular dynamics and interactions in
living cell.
Cédric Lhoussaine
Assistant Professor & leader of the group Biocomputing in the lab CRIStAL, CNRS and Lille 1
University
cedric.lhoussaine@univ-lille1.fr, (web page)
I defended my PhD thesis in Computer Science in 2002 (university of Marseille), and my
habilitation in 2013 (university Lille 1). My PhD thesis was about the formal analysis of
(computational) concurrent systems, concurrent programming languages and type systems.
After a post-doctoral position at Sussex University (Brighton, UK), I was hired on an assistant
professor position at the university Lille 1 in 2004 where I started to investigate the
application of concurrency theory to biological systems, in particular gene regulatory
networks, signaling pathways and metabolic networks. I was first interested in proposing
improvements of the pi-calculus (a core concurrent programming language) to make it more
suitable for biological modeling. I focused my research on the stochastic and spatial aspects
of biological systems. In particular, I was interested in molecular diffusion and in the
dynamics of cellular compartments. I then moved to another modeling paradigm, so called
rule-based modeling, closer in the intuition of biological interactions and I proposed a new
expressive modeling language called React(C). Currently, I am interested in analyses
methods based on programming semantics. In particular, I study formal notions of model
equivalence. Based on these notions, I proposed new model reduction methods that are
fundamental for the efficient and correct analysis of properties of biological systems.
Key words: Gene regulatory networks, metabolic networks, concurrent systems, semantics,
programming languages, spatial aspects, stochastic systems, simulation, model reduction.
Jean-Pierre Mazat
Professeur Émérite
tel : 33(0) 556 999 041, jean-pierre.mazat@u-bordeaux.fr (web site)
IBGC CNRS UMR 5095 & Universite de Bordeaux
Degrees/Career:
Trained in mathematics subsequently in Genetics and Biochemistry (University of Paris-Sud
Orsay). PhD thesis on the "allosteric properties of Aspartokinase III of E.coli" (Experimental
and theoretical).Senior lecturer at University Paris-Sud Orsay and then at University Victor
Segalen Bordeaux 2.Study of the kinetic properties of beef tryptophanyl-tRNA synthase (fast
kinetics), then, study of the control of oxidative phosphorylation in yeast and rat muscle
mitochondria. JPM created the INSERM laboratory "Mitochondrial Physiology", which was
devoted to the study of mitochondrial energy metabolism and mitochondrial diseases, now
professor Emeritus at the Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2.
Current Research Interests: Virtual Mitochondrion (A multi-level modeling of mitochondrial
energy metabolism)
Mitochondria are vital organelles involved in energy and metabolites production, oxygen
sensing and several signalling pathways, in particular in calcium signaling and ROS
production. They have been shown to be implicated in ischemic preconditioning, and their
functioning is likely to be altered in ischemic conditions.
Mitochondria metabolism as well as intracellular and cell-to-cell signalling pathways is
dependent on a large number of simultaneous interactions. It renders its analysis difficult
and certainly non intuitive. For this reason mathematical modelling is of great help in
understanding all these interactions and their phenotypical consequences. The general aim
of our research is a multilevel modelling of mitochondrial bioenergy metabolism.
It involves:
- stochastic modelling of electron transfers in respiratory chain complexes and super
complexes and ROS production (particular case of complex III).
- a global model of respiratory chain using simple but thermodynamical correct kinetics
equations developed for the respiratory chain complexes. Particular cases of yeast, muscle
and heart. Application to the competition for respiratory substrates.
- a model of central energy metabolism in cell (Ordinary Differential Equations). Definition
of different types of metabolic states. Elementary Flux Modes (EFM) and their classification.
Passage from one state to another (Warburg, Crabtree effects). Rationale for a metabolic
therapy.
- modelling the organization of mitochondrial network (fusion/fission) and its dependency
upon the energy metabolism.
Key words: Mitochondria, Respiratory complexes, Metabolic Control Analysis, calcium
signaling, mitochondrial pathologies, modeling.
Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, PhD, FABMG
Professor and Director, Palestine Museum of Natural History and Palestine Institute of
Biodiversity and Sustainability, Bethlehem University, Bethlehem, Palestine.
Office Tel., +970-2277-3553, Mobile +972(0)598939532, US Phone: 937-558-5535
Email: MazinQ@bethlehem.edu, mazin@qumsiyeh.org, info@palestinenature.org.
Webs: www.PalestineNature.org; Personal Web: www.qumsiyeh.org; Blog: http://popularresistance.blogspot.com
Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh teaches and does research at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities.
He is director of the main clinical cytogenetics laboratory and director of the Palestine
Museum
of
Natural
History
and
Institute
for
Biodiversity
Research
(http://palestinenature.org). He previously served on the faculties of the University of
Tennessee, Duke, and Yale Universities. He served as chairman of the Palestinian Center for
Rapprochement Between People and on the board of Al-Rowwad Children's Theater Center
in Aida Refugee Camp and currently serves on the board of Bethlehem Children Museum
and the Technology Transfer Association. He serves on the Palestinian Higher Council for
Innovation and Excellence and as reviewer for scientific publications in several journals. He
published over 130 scientific papers on topics ranging from biodiversity to cancer. His team
was the only Palestinian group to study things like genotoxic impact of Israeli settlements,
decline in biodiversity, and cytogenetics of animals and humans. He published over a
hundred other refereed articles in areas like social science and history, chapters in books,
and several books including "Mammals of the Holy Land", "Sharing the Land of Canaan:
human rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle" (English, Spanish, and German) and
"Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of Hope and Empowerment" (Arabic, English,
French, forthcoming in Italian). He also has an activism book published electronically on his
web site (http://qumsiyeh.org) and he has a blog reaching tens of thousands of emails
weekly on issues ranging from human rights to environmental conservation.
Keywords: Biodiversity, genetics, cytogenetics, environment, conservation, ecology, zoology
Emilia Rappocciolo
Assistant Professor
erappocciolo@birzeit.edu Tel +(972) 597-877-130. (Research Gate)
Microbiology and Immunology. Birzeit University, Palestine
My research interests concentrate in understanding the relationship between the human
microbiome and metabolic disease with particular interest in the involvement of the
microbiome in diabetes type 2. The project involves studying the specific composition of
bacterial families in the feces of individuals with full blown diabetes and individuals with prediabetic condition compared to healthy individuals, but also understanding network
relationships between the different families and the host. I am also involved in helping
understanding the interaction between newly synthesized chemical compounds and their
antimicrobial activity.
Key words: Microbiome, diabetes type 2, metabolism, antimicrobial, obesity
Omar Saleh
Assistant Professor in Plant molecular biology-biotechnology, Birzeit University, Palestine
Tel. (office): +972 2 298 2162 Emails: osaleh@birzeit.edu, osaleh82@gmail.com
(Research Gate)
- B.Sc in Biology (2004) from Birzeit University, Palestine
- M.Sc in Environment protection (2008) from Hohenheim University, Germany
- Ph.D in Plant molecular biology-biotechnology (2013) from Freiburg University, Germany
Research fields of interest:
- Plant functional comparative genomics
- Molecular & functional characterization of genes involved in plant development,
phytohormones signaling, cell cycle regulation, and plant response to various bioticabiotic stresses
- Gene expression regulation. Identification and functional characterization
Adnan Salman
Assistant Professor
aalshaikh@najah.edu, Tel +(972) 595546129. (Research Gate)
Computer Science Department, An-Najah University, Palestine (www.najah.edu)
Director of Advanced Computer Program, An-Najah University, Palestine
I am an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department/An-Najah university. I
received my first degree in Physics from An-Najah University-Palestine, a Master's degree in
Physics from University of Utah-USA, a second Master's degree in Computer Science from
University of Oregon-USA, and a Ph.D. in computer science/computational science from
University of Oregon.
I worked for three years as a computational scientist at the Neuroinformatic Center University of Oregon before joining the computer science department at An-Najah
University. My research focus is on building accurate and efficient computational head
models for EEG and MEG functional neuroimaging. Our research goal is to create an
anatomically-constrained, spatiotemporally-optimized neuroimaging methodology to
improve the source localization of dense-array EEG (dEEG). Anatomical constraints include
high-resolution three-dimensional segmentation of an individual's head tissues,
identification of head tissue conductivities, and alignment of source generator dipoles with
the individual's cortical surface. Using these constraints, we constructs a full-physics
computational model of an individual's head electromagnetics and uses it to map measured
EEG scalp potentials to their cortical sources. My research involves modeling and simulation,
high performance computing, intensive data analysis, and building computational
environments.
As the director of the advanced computing program at An-Najah university, I found this
network has the potential of providing Master's thesis topics for our graduate students.
Key words: modeling and simulation, high performance computing, data analysis, head
modeling, EEG
Khaled Sawalha
Associate Professor – Botany, Biodiversity & Biotechnology
kssawalha@science.alquds.edu, kmsawalha@gmail.com Tel: +972 599639069
www.alquds.edu
Life Sciences. Faculty of Science & Technology. Al-Quds University. West Bank. Palestine.
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6)
7)
8)
9)
Research interests & activities:
Plant tissue culture and genetic modification, metabolic engineering.
Bioactive compounds (secondary metabolites) of medicinal plants, essential oils.
Biodiversity of flora of Palestine: Herbarium, genetic diversity
Biological control of plant diseases: Trichodrma & Biocides
Conservation of biodiversity: seed banking.
Botanic Gardens (Founder & Director): Rock and Andalucía botanic Gardens are
established at Al Quds UNiversity.
Conferences: Euro bio. Quran Botanic Garden. Bio-banks. Plant tissue culture.
Bioethics, Islam & Science. Spiritual values to conserve nature.
Strategic planning and scientific consultation for UNESCO. FAO. UNDP. UNWomen
10) Organizer: Education conference. Biotechnology 3rd conference. Biodiversity
workshops.
key words: Palestinian flora, biodiversity, biotechnology, plant tissue culture, bioactive
compounds, plant secondary metabolites, bioethics.
Johnny Stiban
Assistant Professor
jstiban@birzeit.edu, jstiban@gmail.com, Tel +(972) 54-392-1144. (Research Gate)
Cell Biology and Biochemistry. Birzeit University, Palestine
My research interests revolve around mitochondria. I study the intrinsic apoptotic program
by focusing on ceramide biosynthesis, modulation of ceramide activity in mitochondria, and
ceramide channel formation in mitochondria. I also work on the replication aspect of
mitochondrial DNA and study the proteomics of mtDNA helicase. In addition I am interested
in studying diseases such as cancer and obesity in rats as model system.
Key words: Apoptosis, mitochondria, ceramide, cancer, metabolism, replication, obesity,
diabetes
Bernard Vandenbunder
Emeritus research director CNRS,
bernard.vandenbunder@univ-lille1.fr, Tel: +33(0)362 53 17 37 (web page)
Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules CNRS & Lille1 University, France
With a passport from the physics, I have travelled into the world of biology from the test
tubes to living cells to investigate biological regulations: the regulation of an enzymatic
activity, the regulation of cell growth and differentiation during embryonic and tumor
development, the regulation of gene expression. From my first studies on the
conformational changes of glycogen phosphorylase to our recent studies on the dynamics of
Polycomb bodies assembly and on P marinus copepods, it has been for me a always renewed
pleasure to experience the contributions of physics to our understanding of the structure,
the dynamics and the stability of living systems.
The goal of the Biophotonics group in which I work today is to imagine, develop and make
available novel technologies and methods for real-time imaging of molecular dynamics and
interactions in living cells. To conduct this development we focus on the dynamics of gene
expression regulatory networks controlling cell fate during adaptative responses to stress
and circadian oscillation.
I am also interested in the ethics of research. I try to work on the “conceptual glasses” that
we use to see and to understand living systems.
Key words: biophotonics, transcriptional regulation, embryonic and tumor development