Hana El-Samad

Hana El-Samad is a Lebanese-American scientist who is a founding Principal Investigator at Altos Labs and a Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco.[1][2] Her work considers control theory and the function of complex biological systems. Her group has made contributions to systems biology,[3][4] synthetic biology,[5][6] and cell engineering.[7][8]

Hana El-Samad
Born
Lebanon
Alma materAmerican University of Beirut
Iowa State University
University of California, Santa Barbara
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of California, San Francisco
ThesisBiological design principles for robustness, performance and selective interactions with noise : he E. coli heat shock response and other case studies. (2004)

In November 2021, El-Samad was appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of GEN Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed scientific journal that launched in February 2022 publishing original research and perspectives across all facets of the biotechnology industry by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.[9]

Early life and education

El-Samad grew up in Lebanon. She was one of four girls. Her mother was a math teacher and her father worked in retail. El-Samad was an undergraduate student at the American University of Beirut, where she studied the concepts of mathematical modeling.[10][11] She became interested in control theory and moved to the United States as a graduate student at Iowa State University.[12] El-Samad eventually obtained her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara under the supervision of Mustafa Khammash.[13] For her doctoral research she studied control theory, and how systems such as robots and cruise control handled sudden changes.[13] She became increasingly interested in the complexity of biological systems, and switched her research focus to gene regulatory systems and the shock responses that bacteria undergo when adapting to temperature changes.[10] After graduating, El-Samad was appointed as a Sandler Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).[13]

Research and career

El-Samad was appointed to the faculty at the University of California, San Francisco. In 2013 she was awarded a $1.4 million grant from the Paul Allen Family Foundation to study cellular networks.[13] These cellular networks rely on rapid communication and information transfer. Temperature variations of 2 °C can cause considerable changes in the information sent from a cell to a gene. Specifically, El-Samad has studied how these changes are encoded within cells, such that the correct information is shared with genes. El-Samad studies the Protein kinase A (PKA) system, which is able to transient several environmental signals.[14]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

Personal life

El-Samad is one of four girls. One of her sisters is an engineer, one a biologist and one a literature teacher.[13]

References
  1. "Altos Labs". altoslabs.com. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  2. "UCSF Profiles".
  3. Ma, Wenzhe; Trusina, Ala; El-Samad, Hana; Lim, Wendell A.; Tang, Chao (2009-08-21). "Defining network topologies that can achieve biochemical adaptation". Cell. 138 (4): 760–773. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2009.06.013. ISSN 1097-4172. PMC 3068210. PMID 19703401.
  4. Harrigan, Patrick; Madhani, Hiten D.; El-Samad, Hana (2018-10-18). "Real-Time Genetic Compensation Defines the Dynamic Demands of Feedback Control". Cell. 175 (3): 877–886.e10. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2018.09.044. ISSN 1097-4172. PMC 6258208. PMID 30340045.
  5. Langan, Robert A.; Boyken, Scott E.; Ng, Andrew H.; Samson, Jennifer A.; Dods, Galen; Westbrook, Alexandra M.; Nguyen, Taylor H.; Lajoie, Marc J.; Chen, Zibo; Berger, Stephanie; Mulligan, Vikram Khipple (August 2019). "De novo design of bioactive protein switches". Nature. 572 (7768): 205–210. Bibcode:2019Natur.572..205L. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1432-8. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 6733528. PMID 31341284.
  6. Fonseca, João P.; Bonny, Alain R.; Town, Jason; El-Samad, Hana (2020-03-05). "Assembly of Genetic Circuits with the Mammalian ToolKit". Bio-Protocol. 10 (5): e3547. doi:10.21769/BioProtoc.3547. ISSN 2331-8325. PMC 7842717. PMID 33659521.
  7. "The 'dawn' of designer proteins: Biologists build a protein that turns cells on and off". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  8. Ng, Andrew H.; Nguyen, Taylor H.; Gómez-Schiavon, Mariana; Dods, Galen; Langan, Robert A.; Boyken, Scott E.; Samson, Jennifer A.; Waldburger, Lucas M.; Dueber, John E.; Baker, David; El-Samad, Hana (August 2019). "Modular and tunable biological feedback control using a de novo protein switch". Nature. 572 (7768): 265–269. Bibcode:2019Natur.572..265N. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1425-7. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 31341280. S2CID 198491797.
  9. "Professor Hana El-Samad, PhD, Appointed Editor-in-Chief of GEN Biotechnology". liebertpub.com. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  10. Gewin, Virginia (2013). "Turning point: Hana El-Samad". Nature. 498 (7452): 129. doi:10.1038/nj7452-129a. ISSN 1476-4687.
  11. "Hana El-Samad | IEEE Xplore Author Details". ieeexplore.ieee.org. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  12. "Hana El-Samad". www.aiche.org. 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  13. Fost, Dan. "Hana El-Samad: 'A Star in Her Field'". Hana El-Samad: 'A Star in Her Field' | UC San Francisco. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  14. "Untangling the Wires: an Integrated Framework for Probing Signal Encoding and Decoding in Cellular Circuits". alleninstitute.org. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  15. "Hana El-Samad | American Automatic Control Council". a2c2.org. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  16. "Hana El-Samad | UCSF Profiles". profiles.ucsf.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  17. "El-Samad, Hana". The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  18. "ME Alumna Hana El-Samad Wins Prestigious Eckman Award in Control Theory". Mechanical Engineering - UC Santa Barbara. 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
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