Our Team
Meet the passionate minds behind ABS Research Review and Consultation. Our team comprises seasoned researchers who share a collective vision of advancing scientific inquiry. Their expertise spans various disciplines including medical, biomedical and bioengineering domains. Here is a sample of our select experts:
Professor of Molecular & Cellular Oncology
Founder and CEO of ABS Research Review and Consultation
Dr. Moustafa was a professor at the College of Medicine of Qatar University, 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 PhD at the Institute of Cellular and Molecular Embryology of the CNRS, Collège de France and the University of Paris XIII (Paris-France) in 1992. He did his training as a postdoctoral fellow at McGill university (Montreal, Canada). Afterwards, Dr. Al Moustafa held a position as a PI and an A. Professor at the Lady Davis Institute (LDI) for Medical Research of JGH and the Oncology Dept. of McGill University, respectively. Dr. Al Moustafa published more than 160 papers, book, and book chapters on different aspects of human cancer. Dr. Al Moustafa’s main research focuses on the roles of several oncogenes, gene cooperation and oncoviruses in human carcinogenesis and metastasis. He is also interested in cancer drug discovery and delivery using nanoparticles.
On the other hand, Dr. Al Moustafa established the Middle Eastern Association for Cancer Research (MEACR), and its official scientific peer-reviewed journal, the Clinical Cancer Investigation Journal (CCIJ) in 2009 and 2011, respectively.
Publications:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Al+Moustafa+AE+and%2For+Ala-Eddin+Al+Moustafa
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=25s5dVIAAAAJ&hl=en
Kailash Chadha, PhD
Emeritus Associate Member & Associate Professor of Oncology
Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Department of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, NY, USA.
Dr. Chadha got his Ph.D. degree in Virology from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. After his graduation he spent two years as a fellow of National Research Council of Canada. Following that he joined Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. His research interests include cellular and molecular biology of Herpes viruses, Interferons and Prostate Cancer. More specifically, he is actively involved in developing New Biomarkers for early detection and management of prostate cancer and the physiological role of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in regulating prostate tumor growth. He published well over 125 publications, written several book chapters and currently holds six U.S. patents. He is currently on the editorial board of several international scientific journals, including: International J Nephrology & Urology, J Pathology & Genetics, International J. Medical Biotechnology & Genetics, Advances in Modern Oncology Research, Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation Update, Journal of Cancer Immunology & Therapy, International J Cancer Research and Molecular Mechanisms, Journal of Nephrology Research. His research is supported by the NCI, American Cancer Society, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and EMD Serono Inc.
Publications: https://pubmed-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/?term=%22Chadha+K%22&sort=date
Fatima Mraiche, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, University of Alberta
2023 Vargo Teaching Chair
Dr. Mraiche completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Alberta, afterwards, she joined the newly established College of Pharmacy at Qatar University (CPH-QU) in 2020. Dr. Mraiche investigates the role of ion homeostasis and signaling pathways mediated through transporters, Na+/H+ exchanger isoform 1 and sodium glucose co-transporters, in cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. Dr. Mraiche was able to secure research funding from national and international funding institutions (Qatar Foundation, European Society of Cardiology, L'Oreal). She has more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in international journals. She is also an editorial board member of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. Dr. Mriache is currently enrolled in the 2024 FoMD Leadership Course at the University of Alberta.
Publications: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=Ral0vBoAAAAJ https://pubmedncbinlmnihgov.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/term=Mraiche+F&ac=yes&cauthor_id=None&user_filter=&schema=n one&page=1&whatsnew=None&show_snippets=on&sort=relevance&sort_order=desc&forma=summary&size=10
Said Dermime, PhD
Senior Scientist and Director of Translational Cancer Research Facility
National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Dr. Dermime obtained his PhD in immunology from Salford University, Manchester, UK in 1992. He then joined the NCI, Milan (Italy) from 1992-1994; then the NHLBI, NIH, (USA) from 1995-1997 as postdoctoral fellow. He was a Leader of the Lymphoma-Cancer Vaccine Team at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Manchester (UK) for a period of 5 years; then he was appointed as Senior Scientist to establish and lead the Tumor Immunology Section at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Riyadh (KSA) for a period of 6 years. In 2015, Dr. Said joined NCCCR at HMC, Doha, Qatar as a director of the Translational Cancer Research Facility. Dr. Dermime is an editor reviewer for the Frontiers in Immunology journal, associate editor for Heliyon Cancer Research and a reviewer for many prestigious international scientific journals.
Publications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=dermime&sort=pubdate&size=100
Semir Vranic, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology, College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
Corresponding member, Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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. He did two post-doc fellowships (2008/2009 at the Creighton University School of Medicine, USA; 2012/2013, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Italy).
Research interests: Breast cancer, genitourinary and gynecologic cancer research, and predictive biomarkers for precision medicine. Dr. Vranic is a section editor and editor-in-chief of Biomolecules and Biomedicine (since 2014), and academic editor for PLOS One (since 2018). He was also an associate editor of Cancer Cell International (2019-2020), as well as an ad hoc reviewer for >100 biomedical journals.
Publications: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=9FowakAAAAAJ
https://pubmed-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/?term=semir+vranic
Mostafa Waly, PhD
Professor, Food Science and Nutrition,
College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Dr. Waly received his PhD from Northeastern University (Boston, USA) in Health Sciences. His research interests focus on understanding the metabolic aspects of oxidative stress in relation to human chronic diseases, using in vitro and in vivo experimental models. Dr. Waly’s research work has resulted in numerous publications in international peer-reviewed high-ranking journals and acquiring numerous research grants from various funding agencies. He is currently serving on the editorial boards of several international journals in the field of clinical nutrition. In addition, he supervises numerous postgraduate and undergraduate students on various research projects.
Publications: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=vNRlNUMAAAAJ
https://pubmed-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/?term=%22Waly+M%22
Eyad Elkord, PhD
Professor, Department of Applied Biology, College of Science, University of Sharjah, UAE
Honorary Professor, University of Salford, UK
Dr. Elkord received his BSc in 1995 from Al-Quds University (Jerusalem), an MPhil in 2001 from Bergen University (Norway) and a PhD in Tumor Immunology in 2005 from the University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff University (UK). He did his postdoc at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, University of Manchester (UK), and was promoted to a Research Fellow/Group Leader of the Clinical Immunotherapy Laboratory at the University of Manchester. He is also an editorial board member for peer-reviewed international journals such as Frontiers in Immunology & Oncology (specialty Cancer Immunity & Immunotherapy), BMC Cancer, Vaccines and Journal of Immunology Research. In recognition of his research influence, Dr Elkord has been named in Stanford University’s yearly and career global lists of top 2% scientists for four consecutive years (2019-2022), achieving the position in top 0.26% in the Immunology subfield.
Publications: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=8hBxwAgAAAAJ
https://pubmed-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/?term=%22Elkord+E%22
Ali Sultan, PhD, DSc
Professor of Teaching in Microbiology and Immunology
Assistant Dean for Foundational Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q)
Dr. Sultan received his MD from the University of Khartoum, Sudan and PhD from the University of Edinburgh, UK. Following a four-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Department of Pathology, Division of Immunology of New York University School of Medicine, he became a visiting assistant professor at the same department at New York University.
Prior to joining WCMC-Q in Sept 2004, Dr. Sultan was at Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Immunology & Infectious Diseases. He also served as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Doha, Qatar from Dec 2016 – Jan 2022. His current research interests focus primarily on four broad areas of microbial research: molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases in Qatar; host pathogen interactions; human and environmental microbiota; and antibiotic development and resistance.
Publications: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=ne47NFwAAAAJ
https://pubmed-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/?term=%22Sultan+Ali%22&sort=date
Maysaloun Merhi, Pharm, PhD
Research Scientist, Principal Investigator, National Center for Cancer Care and Research
Head of Flow Cytometry Core Facility, Translational Research Institute, Doha, Qatar
Dr. Merhi received her PhD in Toxicology and Pathology from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse (France). She also holds a doctorate degree in pharmacy (Pharm D) from the Lebanese University in Beirut, a M.Sc. in Biological and Medical Sciences from Claude Bernard University in Lyon (France) and a M.Sc. in Toxicology from Paris V University (France). She did her post-doctoral researcher in genetic toxicology at the Pasteur Institute in Lille then was recruited as a research associate at the cancer research center Nantes-Anger. In 2013, Dr. Merhi joined the medical oncology department at NCCCR/HMC as a research scientist. Her work focuses on the characterization of the immune response in cancer patients treated with immunotherapy, the identification of dynamic biomarkers of response and the generation of genetically modified T cells and NK cells for cancer therapy.
Publications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Merhi+M&sort=date
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LG7vUMoAAAAJ&hl=en
Abdelilah Aboussekhra, PhD
Principal Scientist, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Riyadh, KSA
Head of the Cancer Biology & Experimental Therapeutics
Chairman of the Molecular Oncology Department at the Research & Innovation
Dr. Aboussekhra obtained his PhD degree in 1992 from Orsay University (Paris XI). From 1992 to 1995, he worked as post-Doctoral fellow in the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (Clare Hall, London) on the reconstitution of the nucleotide excision repair process in vitro using purified factors. In 1996, he joined the institute of cell Biology (ETH, Zurich) where he worked as an associate scientist for 2 years on the role of chromatin in modulating nucleotide excision repair. He joined King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research center as Scientist and head of the DNA repair and Apoptosis section in 1998. His major research interest has been the role of the tumor microenvironment in breast carcinogenesis, and the identification of efficient anti-cancer molecules as well as prognostic biomarkers. Dr. Aboussekhra published 2 international patents related to the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells and the dedifferentiation of luminal cells to multipotent stem cells.
Publications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Abdelilah+Aboussekhra