Program Director
Dr. Asmaa M. Abushady was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1978. She attended Ain shams University, Cairo, Egypt to obtain her bachelor’s degree in Genetics in 1999; she obtained her master’s degree in Molecular Genetics in 2004. She also received her Ph.D. in Conservation of AnGR in 2009, from the Ain shams University, Faculty of Agriculture, Genetic Department, Cairo, Egypt. In her postdoctoral studies, she succeeded to gain a full scholarship for the first postdoc position from FP7-IRSES "Marie curie Action" in Cordoba University, Spain. 2012-2013. As a member of the Bio Goat: Latin American Goat Biodiversity Project, from 2013 to date, she had actively contributed to that mega-project, thereby acquiring the skills to communicate and discuss ideas with international research groups. She was the Director of Ain Shams Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology "ACGEB 2017-2018. In 2019, she took a second scholarship from the specific call for mobility in the entrance from Mediterranean countries, at the University of Perugia (Universita Degli Studi di Perugia) Department of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, Perugia, Italy and a full scholarship from the specific call for academic staff mobility in the entrance from Mediterranean countries, at the University of Messina (UniME), Sicily, Italy.
Asmaa joined Nile University as an associate professor in 2019. Her study field focused on a broad range of activities related to improving the productivity of animals and their resilience to environmental stressors. Her main interests include the identification and conservation of PlGR & AnGR and analyzing phenotypic and molecular genetic data of different animal species using molecular genetics techniques and frequentist statistics analysis; besides working in laboratories. She carried out research activities in collaboration with international groups which are interested in the same field. Regarding that, her activity includes analyses by AFLP, PCR-based techniques, microsatellite molecular markers, gene expression by Real Time-PCR. Currently, she is collaborating on "the mega-project collaboration between 6 different European and non-European countries” that aims to study genetic diversity to understand and exploit Barley's adaptation to harsh environments and for pre-breeding.
At Nile University (NU), Dr. Asmaa is co-developing the first online pharmacogenomics diploma and master’s program in Egypt as part of a consortium funded by ERASMUS. The diploma and master’s program will have a world-class curriculum revised by renowned European universities and will be available to graduates of medicine, pharmacy and biotechnology in Egypt and Lebanon.
Dr. Asmaa is also currently launching a joint biotechnology incubator between Nile University and Ain Shams University, which will accelerate the development of biotechnology startups and would also enhance the Egyptian biopreneurship ecosystem.