Visiting Academics
Professor of Virology from the Republic of Iraq
We are delighted to be working with Professor Zeenah of the University of Basrah. Prof Zeenah’s main focus will be leading a project pertaining to Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in collaboration with us here at Imperial College London, Scripps Research California, and the University of Basrah. Prof Zeenah is an alum of the University of Basrah, Iraq, and Warwick University, UK. An accomplished academic specialising in microbiology, virology, and molecular genetics she leads two key units in the Department of Microbiology’s Research Core Laboratory at Basrah University.
While completing her PhD on the ‘Interaction between antiviral-antitumour cellular protein and adenovirus’ at Warwick University she led two undergraduate virology lab groups. In Iraq, she teaches in different microbiology fields: bacteriology, medical bacteriology, genetic engineering, immunology, toxicology, and serology; as well as overseeing projects on viral infections, molecular interactions, gene silencing, and anti-cancer responses. In addition to being a member of the Examining Committees of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students at the University of Basrah, Prof Zeenah is Head of the Quality Assurance Committee at the School of Lifesciences, and Director of Career Development Center. She is committed to driving both science and scholarship forward; previously supervising two PhD and five Masters students, Prof Zeenah is currently supervising two Masters students and co-advising a PhD student in CRISPR-based genome editing. As well as authoring multiple published articles in her field of expertise, Prof Zeenah has been a member of the organising committee for symposiums, conferences, and the Development Committee of Medical Accreditation. Moreover, her dedication extends beyond academia, during the COVID-19 pandemic Prof Zeenah volunteered her expertise to train lab staff in PCR diagnostics and led workshops on SARS-CoV2 diagnosis.