About

Charbel Al Khoury

Assistant Professor of Biology

Dr. Charbel Al Khoury joined LAU as a full-time assistant professor of microbiology in Fall 2022. He studied at the Paris-East Créteil University, where he received his PhD in Pathology and Clinical Research in the Faculty of Medicine, with medical parasitology as his specialty. During this period, he acquired comprehensive expertise in dealing with unicellular and multicellular organisms that live temporarily or permanently on or within the human body. Additionally, he shed light on the competition for supremacy between parasites and mammal hosts.

Research Interests

Dr. Al Khoury took particular interest in a second branch of microbiology dealing with arthropod-pathogenic fungi. Notably, he grew an immense fascination with necrotrophic fungi that could be used to control critical medical ectoparasites. Currently, Dr. Al Khoury is tracking the epidemiology and finding new therapeutic options for cutaneous leishmaniasis: a parasitic infection caused by Leishmania tropica. Moreover, he provided the first evidence, using molecular techniques, that the development of mycoacaricides may be of interest for the control of Sarcoptes scabiei infection. He also claimed two novel indigenous species of Beauveria, a necrotrophic fungus, and provided the first molecular insight into the tritrophic interaction between hosts-fungi-arthropods.

Dr. Al Khoury has a rich background in computer-aided drug discovery and computational approaches. For instance, he is investigating several modulators to reverse the resistance acquisition and block the resistance emergence of parasites. For that, he is conducting molecular docking and dynamic simulation of proteins responsible for lowering the bioavailability of drugs.

SDGs Research Mapping

Dr. Charbel Al Khoury conducts research relevant to the following SDGs:

Selected Publications

  • Al Khoury, C., Nemer, G., Guillot, J., Tokajian, S. “Absolute quantification of gene expression in drug discovery using RT-qPCR: Case of a drug used in the treatment of leishmaniasis,” Research in Veterinary Science, 2022, 153, 17-22.
  • Al Khoury, C., Nemer, G., Humber, R., El-Hachem, N., Guillot, J., Chehab, R., Noujiem, E., El Khoury, Y., Skaff, W., Estephan, N., Nemer, N. “Bioexploration and Phylogenetic Placement of Entomopathogenic Fungi of the Genus Beauveria in Soils of Lebanon Cedar Forests,” Journal of Fungi, 2021, 7, 924. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7110924
  • Al Khoury, C., Bashir, Z., Tokajian, S., Nemer N., Merhi, G., Nemer, G. “In silico evidence of beauvericin antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2,” Computers in Biology and Medicine, 2021, 141:105171.
  •  Tokajian, S., Merhi, G., Al Khoury, C., Nemer G. “Interleukin-37: A Link Between COVID-19, Diabetes, and the Black Fungus,” Frontiers in Microbiology, 2021, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.788741.
  • Al Khoury, C., Nemer, N., Nemer, G. “Beauvericin potentiates the activity of pesticides by neutralizing the ATP-binding cassette transporters in arthropods,” Scientific Reports, 2021, 11(1), 1-11. 
  • Al Khoury, C. “Can colonization by an endophytic fungus transform a plant into a challenging host for insect herbivores?” Fungal Biology, 2021, 125(12), 1009-1016
  • Al Khoury, C. “Molecular insight into the endophytic growth of Beauveria bassiana within Phaseolus vulgaris in the presence or absence of Tetranychus urticae,” Molecular Biology Reports, 2021, 48(3), 2485-96.
  • Al Khoury, C., Nemer, N., Bernigaud, C., Fischer, K., Guillot, J. “First evidence of the activity of an entomopathogenic fungus against the eggs of Sarcoptes scabiei,” Veterinary Parasitology, 2021, 109553
  • Bonnet, S.I., Blisnick, T., Al Khoury, C., Guillot J. “Of fungi and ticks: Morphological and molecular characterization of fungal contaminants of a laboratory-reared Ixodes ricinus colony,” Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, 2021, 12(5), 101732.
  • Al Khoury, C., Nemer, N. Nemer, G., Kurban, M., Bernigaud, C., Fischer, K., Guillot, J. “In Vitro Activity of Beauvericin against All Developmental Stages of Sarcoptes scabiei,” Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.02118-19.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD in Pathology and Clinical Research, Paris-East Créteil University, France, 2019.
  • BS and MS in Agricultural Engineering, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Lebanon, 2014.