American University of Beirut

Lab of Dr. Hassan Zaraket

​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Link to Dr.Zaraket's​ FMIS Profile

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Research Interest

  • ​Genetics and evolution of RNA viruses
  • Antivirals and vaccines
  • Virus-host interaction​​

​Ongoing Research Projects

  • Molecular surveillance and anti-viral drug resistance of influenza viruses in Lebanon
  • Genomics and evolution of RNA viruses (e.g. respiratory syncytial virus, rotavirus)
  • Viral metagenomics of childhood infections with unresolved etiologies
  • Antiviral drug discovery
  • Virus-host interactions with focus on the role of sphingolipids
  • Influenza vaccination

Selected Publications​

A novel antiviral role for ceramide during influenza A virus replication​
Soudani N, Hage-Sleiman R, Karam W, Diab-Assaf M, Dbaibo G, Zaraket H
J Virol. pii: JVI.00053-19. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00053-19.

Complete Genome Sequence of an ON1 Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Strain Isolated in Lebanon in 2015
Ezzeddine A, Soudani N, Lee CK, Dbaibo G, Elbahesh H, Zaraket H
Genome Announc. 19;6(16). pii: e00316-18. doi: 10.1128/genomeA.00316-18. 2018

Antiviral drug susceptibility and evolutionary analysis of human influenza B isolates from three Asian countries during 2012-2015 using full genome characterization
Hibino A*, Massaad E*, Kondo H, Saito R, Odagiri T, Takemae N, Tsunekuni R, Saito T, Japanese Influenza Collaborative Study Group, Kyaw Y, Lin N, Myint YY, Tin HH,  Khanh Hang NL, Quynh Mai L, Yagami R, Shobugawa Y, Lam T, Zaraket H
Infect. Gen Evol. 14;62:27-33. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2018.04.016. 2018

Update on the epidemiology of rotavirus in the Middle East and North Africa
Zaraket H, Charide R, Kreidieh K, Dbaibo G, Melhem NM​
Vaccine. 35:6047-6058. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine. 2017

Characterization of astrovirus-associated gastroenteritis in hospitalized children under five years of age in Lebanon
Zaraket H, Abou-El-Hassan H, Kreidieh K, Soudani N, Ali Z, Hammadi M, Reslan L, Ghanem S, Hajar F, Inati A7, Rajab M, Fakhouri H, Ghanem B, Baasiri G, Melhem N, Dbaibo G
Infect Gen Evol. 53:94-99. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2017.05.016. 2017

Characterization of influenza outbreaks in Lebanon during the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons
Saito R, Akinobu H, Shaker RA, Akel IS, Assaf-Casals A, Lteif M, Odagiri T, Inaba R, Soudani N, Khafaja S, Ghanem ST, Rajab M, Shobugawa Y, Dbaibo G, Zaraket H
East Mediterr Health J. 22:547-551. 2016

Mammalian adaptation of influenza A(H7N9) virus is limited by a narrow genetic bottleneck
Zaraket H, Baranovich T, Kaplan BS, Carter R, Song MS, Paulson JC, Rehg JE, Bahl J, Crumpton J, Seiler J, Edmonson M, Wu G, Karlsson E, Fabrizio T, Zhu H, Guan Y, Schultz-Cherry S, Krauss S, McBride R, Webster RG, Govorkova EA, Zhang J, Russell CJ, Webby RJ. 
Nat. Com. 6:6553 doi:10.1038/ncomms7553, 2015 


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