Dr. Charbel Al Khoury joined LAU as a full-time
assistant professor of microbiology in 2022. He studied at the Paris-East
Créteil University, where he received his PhD in Pathology and Clinical
Research in the Faculty of Medicine, with medical parasitology as his
specialty. During this period, he acquired comprehensive expertise in dealing
with unicellular and multicellular organisms that live temporarily or
permanently on or within the human body. Additionally, he shed light on the
competition for supremacy between parasites and mammal hosts. Currently, Dr. Al
Khoury is tracking the epidemiology and finding new therapeutic options for
cutaneous leishmaniasis: a parasitic infection caused by Leishmania tropica.
Moreover, he provided the first evidence, using molecular techniques, that the
development of mycoacaricides may be of interest for the control of Sarcoptes
scabiei infection. He also claimed two novel indigenous species of Beauveria, a
necrotrophic fungus, and provided the first molecular insight into the
tritrophic interaction between hosts, fungi, and arthropods.
Dr. Sima Tokajian is a professor of Microbial
Genomics with a Ph.D. from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in Molecular
Microbiology. She joined Lebanese American University in 2005 as a full-time
assistant professor of Microbial Genomics. In 2019, she was promoted to the
rank of full professor and was the chairperson of the Department of Natural
Sciences. She has strong interest in bacterial pathogenesis, and excels at providing
leadership and insight to graduate students on various research projects.
Recently her lab was certified to join the European Laboratory Network for
Sequence-Based Typing of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus being the
only partner from outside Europe.
Nabil Nemer is a
Professor of Entomology and Insect Chemical Ecology at the Department of
Agricultural and Food Sciences at the Holy Spirit university of Kaslik (USEK). He currently serves as the Director of
the Higher Center for Research at USEK and as Associate Dean of Doctoral
Studies for Science and Technology at the Doctoral College.
He has contributed to the management of
insects in forest and agricultural ecosystems at the national and regional
scale and also contributed to the description of hundreds of insect species of
the Lebanese agricultural and forest ecosystems. Using drone technology in
insect control and detection as well as alternative methods of controlling
insects, in addition to climate change impact on biodiversity are amongst the
research he is carrying on.
He has lectured and
participated
in the
organization of several workshops and seminars on Agriculture Insect Pests, Sustainable Agriculture, Establishment
of Nurseries, Crop Production, Forest Insect Pests,
Forest Ecology,
Nature Reserves, Climate Change and Biodiversity with local and International institutions in more than 12 countries worldwide. He is member of 3 Nature Reserves Committees
appointed by the Ministry of Environment, member of the National Organization
Committee to combat desertification and climate change and conservation of
Biodiversity at the Ministry of Agriculture, and member of the Conservation
Agriculture Committee.
