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Abdelali Agouni

Qatar University, The Open University, Université d'Angers, Université de Strasbourg, University of Surrey

Research areas: Medicine · Physiology · Nitric Oxide and Endothelin Effects · Extracellular vesicles in disease · Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Disease

ORCID iD 0000-0002-8363-1582
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About

Prof. Abdelali Agouni is a Professor of Pharmacology at the College of Pharmacy (Qatar University). He previously served as Post-Award Manager at the office of the vice president for research (Qatar University) between 2021 and 2024. He is also the founding graduate studies coordinator at the College of Pharmacy at Qatar University (2018-2022), and he established the first Ph.D. program in pharmaceutical sciences in the state of Qatar. Dr. Agouni graduated with a BSc (Biochemistry) in 2003 an MSc (Pharmacology) in 2005 from the University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg (France) and a Ph.D. in clinical and experimental Pharmacology from the University of Angers (France) in 2008. After graduating with his Ph.D., he joined the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) in 2009 as a post-doctoral research fellow at the School of Biological Sciences. In October 2011, he moved to the University of Surrey as a tenured Assistant Professor of cardiovascular biology within the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. In 2015, he joined the College of Pharmacy of Qatar University as an assistant professor of pharmacology, and then in 2017, he was promoted to the rank of associate professor. Subsequently, in 2022, he was promoted to the rank of Professor.
Dr. Agouni is an expert in cardiovascular and metabolic functions phenotyping (79 peer-reviewed publications to date an h-index of 31 and a total number of citations of 3,366) and a strong experience in investigating intracellular signaling pathways using both cellular and transgenic animal models of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The major focus of his research to date has been to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms linking obesity and diabetes to cardiovascular complications such as hypertension and atherosclerosis and develop new tools to prevent and reverse these co-morbidities. Dr. Agouni has established expertise in intercellular communication and the role of circulating microvesicles as biomarkers and vectors of metabolic and cardiovascular dysfunctions. Dr. Agouni has expertise in collaborating on large clinical studies and currently contributes to a major clinical study on stroke with Hamad General Hospital (Qatar), a project funded by Qatar University and Qatar National Research Fund. In addition, he is actively involved in drug discovery endeavors using an in-silico-guided approach for the identification of novel small molecules for diabetes and cancer. He secured several research grants from QNRF, Qatar University, and HMC for the development of novel biomarkers and therapies for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Dr. Agouni has successfully managed several competitive research grants involving teams inside and outside Qatar. He is currently a senior investigator on multiple active grants with a cumulative research income of over USD 3 million. Dr. Agouni has successfully supervised several undergraduate, MSc, and PhD students. He currently supervises 3 PhD students, one MSc student, 6 research assistants, and one postdoc fellow in his lab.
The scientific community recognizes Dr. Agouni's expertise through invitations to the editorial boards of several journals. His expertise in metabolic and cardiovascular research fields is recognized both nationally and internationally, and he regularly reviews major grant proposals for national and international funding bodies and agencies such as Medical Research Council UK, Diabetes UK, British Heart Foundation, Swiss Science Foundation, Dutch Heart Foundation, and the Dutch organization for health & healthcare innovation. In addition, he routinely acts as an ad hoc reviewer for several international journals.
Dr. Agouni has strong experience as an educator and has significant experience in both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. His teaching quality is internationally recognised and in 2013 he achieved the status Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Employment

Education

Projects & Funding

  • In silico-guided synthesis of novel thieno-coumarin derivatives targeting Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) against diabetes and its cardiovascular complications Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)
    2024 - 2027
  • Virtual screening, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel iodinated Benzofuran derivatives against Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) for their applications in diabetes: An integrated drug discovery approach Qatar University
    2024 - 2026
  • The synthesis of substituted chromeno[3,4-b]indeno[2,1-d]pyrroles as potential human protein casein kinase II (CK2 ) inhibitors for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)
    2024 - 2025
  • Applying a multidisciplinary approach for the validation of Sestrin2 and its genetic variation as susceptibility biomarker and therapeutic target for diabetic complications in Qatari population Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)
    2023 - 2027
  • Epidemiology of Infections in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) patients (EPINE): A retrospective study Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)
    2023 - 2024
  • The Role of Extracellular Vesicles as a Susceptibility Biomarker and Therapeutic Target for Diabetic Complications in Qatari Population Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)
    2023 - 2027
  • Identification of novel small molecules to modulate the activity of Sestrin2: A drug discovery approach for novel therapies against diabetes and its complications Qatar University
    2023 - 2025
  • Diabetes and hypertension contribute to cerebral small vessel disease via enhanced activity of biomarkers, microparticles and exosomes: A prospective study in stroke patients and age-matched controls Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)
    2019 - 2024

Publications (100)