Rapid Whole Genome Sequencing in the Ever-Evolving Age of COVID-19

In this webinar, Baha Abdalhamid, MD, PhD, from Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, will speak about his research studies. Baha Abdalhamid’s research uses rapid whole genome sequencing (WGS) and bioinformatics for the in-depth characterization of microorganisms. His research projects use WGS for the diagnosis of foodborne pathogens and sterile body fluid infections. Also, he is using WGS to explore mutations in SARS-CoV-2 genes to be addressed as novel targets for COVID-19 vaccine development.

Join this webinar to learn why next generation sequencing (NGS) is a powerful tool to detect and differentiate COVID-19 outbreaks. The featured speakers will discuss how NGS can solve the shortage of test supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees will learn how NGS can be used for COVID-19 diagnosis, monitoring new variants and molecular epidemiology.

Speakers

Sasan Amini, PhD, CEO of Clear Labs

Sasan Amini combined his academic expertise and passion for healthy living when he co-founded Clear Labs with a mission to set a new paradigm for food safety and quality. Prior to serving as the CEO of Clear Labs, he worked in the Advanced Research department at Illumina. Sasan earned his PhD in Genomics from Princeton and holds multiple patents and publications in the field.

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Baha Abdalhamid, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine

The focus of Dr. Abdalhamid’s research is the antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in Gram-negative bacteria. He has conducted investigations to characterize molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance especially in Gram-negative bacteria. With the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, his research studies are also focusing on finding new effective diagnostics methods to conserve testing reagents and expanding SARS-CoV-2 testing such as group testing for pooled specimens in addition to characterization of SARS-CoV-2 genotypes. He did a micromaster program at University of Maryland Global Campus to solidify his background in bioinformatics.

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Using WGS and bioinformatics, his research studies are expanding to have more in depth characterization of microorganisms including serotyping, virulence factor profiling, antimicrobial drug resistance profiling, and clonal relatedness in outbreak and surveillance studies. He is also addressing the opportunities to use WGS in public health and clinical microbiology laboratory settings, especially the diagnosis of foodborne pathogens and the diagnosis of sterile body fluid infections caused by organisms that are difficult to diagnose by routine laboratory procedures.

Baha Abdalhamid is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Department of Pathology and Microbiology. Baha Abdalhamid has a PhD from the Creighton University School of Medicine in Nebraska.

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