Amal Bajaffer

Postdoctoral Fellows

Postdoctoral Fellow

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Research Interests

My research focuses on using environmental DNA (eDNA) to explore biodiversity and changes in community composition associated with marine ecosystems.

Formerly conducted research on the evolution of memory systems and Lactate-Mediated Neural Plasticity (LMNP) systems using bioinformatics approaches to identify orthologs, gene gain/loss patterns, and gene ontology, worked on metagenomics of gut microbiome and analyzed big data to study genomic diversity and antimicrobial resistance characterization of bacterial genomes. 

Selected Publications

  • Application of Decision-Tree-Based Machine Learning Algorithms for Prediction of Antimicrobial Resistance. Yasir M, Karim AM, Malik SK, Bajaffer AA, Azhar EI. Antibiotics., 11(11):1593, (2022). doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11111593
  • Lactate-mediated neural plasticity genes emerged during the evolution of memory systems. Bajaffer, A., Mineta, K., Magistretti, P., Gojobori, T. Sci Rep 12, 19238, (2022) doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23784-8
  • Prediction of Antimicrobial Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations for Neisseria gonorrhoeae using Machine Learning Models, Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. Yasir, M., Karim, A., Malik, S., Bajaffer, A., & Azhar, E. Saudi J Biol Sci 29, (2022)

  • Evolution of memory system‐related genes, Bajaffer, A., Mineta, K., & Gojobori, T. FEBS Open Bio (2021) 

Education

  • Ph.D. Student, Bioscience, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, 2014 – 2019.
  • M.Sc., Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), San Antonio, US, 2012 - 2014.
  • B.Sc., Microbiology, King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2004 - 2008.

Professional Profile

  • 2022 - Present: Postdoctoral fellow, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
  • 2020 - 2022: Postdoctoral fellow, KAU, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Research Interests Keywords

Marine ecology Marine conservation Biodiversity Environment Environmental sustainability Genomics Metagenomics Molecular biology Molecular Evolution Bioinformatics ​Marine microbiology