研究テーマ

• Comparative genomics of human and animal pathogens and host-pathogen interactions for the discovery of novel vaccine candidates/drug targets
• Genomics-guided pathogen surveillance
• Rapid pathogen and microbiome discovery in clinical, farm and environmental samples

キーワード

• Comparative genomics
• Metagenomics
•  Zoonotic pathogens
• Host-pathogen interactions

研究概要

Prof. Pain’s research group uses a combination of high-throughput comparative and functional genomics technologies and bioinformatic tools to study the biology of selected pathogens that are of relevance to human and animal health. During the past decades, his research has focused on studying various aspects of Comparative Genome Biology and Host-Pathogen Interactions– primarily focusing on apicomplexan protists including several species of malaria parasites. In KAUST, he continues to work on malaria (Plasmodium) and related parasites (Toxoplasma, Theileria) focusing on deciphering the ‘yet unknown’ aspects of their biology and gene regulatory mechanisms using comparative and functional genomics tools. After joining KAUST, he has also undertaken several genome-guided populations-based bio surveillance studies on several Mycobacterium species including the M. tuberculosis, Klebsiella spp., Candida auris, SARS-CoV-2 and Dengue virus and more recently on characterization of the functional role of the Nucleocapsid gene mutations of SARS-CoV-2 on the host-virus interplay. More recently, he has been working on the discovery of the ‘Microbiome Components’ in clinical and environmental samples using metagenomic approaches.

His current research primarily focuses on the following areas:

• Comparative genomics and adaptive evolution in Apicomplexan parasites with a focus on Malaria
• Adaptive hallmarks in pathogenic and environmental Mycobacteria
• Genomic surveillance and host-virus relationships in SARS-CoV-2 and DENV
• NGS-guided rapid pathogen and microbiome discovery in clinical, farm and environmental samples.