The first neuroscientist and developmental biologist in AUB’s Biology Department, Assistant Professor Noel Ghanem joined the University in September. A specialist in brain development and the generation of nerve cells, Ghanem looks forward to getting his lab fully-equipped for research. “In my research I use antibodies to label stem cells and their progeny, which can be found in the adult human brain and give rise to specialized nerve cells, and these [antibodies] are expensive” he explained. Ghanem is happy to be back in Lebanon to use his expertise in the service of his community.

While obtaining his BS in natural sciences at the Lebanese University in 1999, Ghanem’s love of lab work, research, and scientific investigation led him to academia. He earned his PhD in cellular and molecular medicine from the University of Ottawa in Canada in 2006. During three years of post-doctoral training in neuroscience at Ottawa Hospital, supported by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2007-09) and an Astrazeneca Canada Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2007-09), Ghanem served as part-time lecturer and course coordinator at the University of Ottawa, where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses.

This semester Ghanem, teaching General Biology and Neuroscience to undergraduates, finds AUB students “motivated, smart, and hard-working.” Next year he will be teaching master’s students neuroscience and developmental biology.

Ghanem studies the mechanisms of regulation and the target genes that control the formation of new-born neurons, or nerve-cells, in the developing and adult brain, using mice as animal models. “If we become able to fully understand the process of neurons-generation by stem cells, then we can apply it clinically to produce new nerve cells. Manipulating these mechanisms will be highly relevant to regenerative medicine in the human brain, following stroke or brain injury, for example,” said Professor Ghanem.

Ghanem has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in high impact journals. He has received several awards and fellowships.