Hassan Zaraket PhD

Dr. Hassan Zaraket is an Assistant Professor of Virology at the Faculty of Medicine, the American University of Beirut. He received his Ph.D. from Niigata University in Japan, in 2009, where he studied epidemiology and antiviral drug susceptibility of respiratory viruses. During his Ph.D., he was involved in virus surveillance and research capacity-building projects in East Asian countries like Vietnam and Myanmar. In 2009, he joined the World Health Organization Collaborating Center and Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, USA, where he studied the mechanisms underlying the emergence of novel influenza viruses including H5N1 and H7N9. His work demonstrated that acid stability of the hemagglutinin protein is an important marker for adaptation of highly pathogenic A(H5N1) influenza viruses from avian to mammalian species. His lab is currently studying the epidemiology and evolution of respiratory and gastroenteric viruses in Lebanon and the region. He is also investigating virus-host interactions with the goal of identifying host-targeted antiviral approaches. He discovered that influenza virus replication is regulated by cellular sphingolipids. Dr. Zaraket is an associate editor for BMC Infectious Diseases Journal and a council member of ISIRV, the International Society for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. He is also a member of several international scientific societies.