Biography

Dr. Halwani is currently an associate professor at the faculty of Medicine, King Saud University (KSU), Saudi Arabia. He is also the scientific director of Prince Naif Center for Immunology Research at KSU (PNCIR) which is a national immunology laboratory involved in studying asthma pathogenesis as well as primary immune deficiencies. In 2004,Dr. Halwani obtained his PhD in virology and immunology from McGill University, Montreal, Canada where he was studying HIV viral assembly and viral cellular interaction. He then did a postdoctoral fellowship at the CHUM research center with Dr. RafickSekaly where he was studying qualitative and quantitative immune correlates of protection against viral infection especially HIV. Currently he is running an immunology research center, PNCIR, where he focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in asthma pathogenesisfrom various angles.


Research Interest

Dr. Halwani is interested in studying the molecular mechanisms involved in lung tissue remodeling during Asthma. Airway tissue remodeling is the key physiological feature underlying asthma pathogenesis. It refers to the modification of the normal composition and structural organization of lung tissue which usually occurs in response to inflammatory responses associated with asthma and COPD. This involves a wide pattern of pathophysiological mechanisms. Dr. Halwani investigates the molecular mechanisms involved in these processes from several angles in the aim to discover novel drug targets that would help control asthma pathogenesis.