On Monday, September 9th, 2024, the Faculty of Pharmacy at Gulf Medical University hosted a research seminar featuring Dr. Ghadir Saied El-Housseiny El Toukhy, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology. The seminar, attended by candidates of the master’s in Drug Discovery and Development program and faculty members of the pharmaceutical sciences department, was titled: “Optimization of Bacterial Metabolites Using Response Surface Methodology.”
Dr. Ghadir’s research expertise spans both Biotechnology and Medical Microbiology, with a particular focus on the production and optimization of secondary bacterial and fungal products. Her work extensively applies Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Design of Experiments (DOE) using modeling software to enhance productivity from wild or genetically modified microorganisms.
During the seminar, Dr. Ghadir highlighted her research on identifying and characterizing an antifungal metabolite produced by Bacillus toyonensis. She discussed the optimization of key factors affecting antifungal metabolite production to maximize yield, emphasizing the importance of RSM as a valuable tool. She discussed how RSM enables researchers to find optimal conditions for metabolite production while minimizing experimental runs and aids in constructing mathematical models that predict responses based on varying factor combinations.
The seminar concluded with a dynamic and insightful discussion, with participants exploring the practical applications of in-vitro experiments and their relevance to in-vivo settings. The exchange further deepened the participants’ understanding of the research and its broader implications.
