Professor

Bio

Carole Ayoub Moubareck earned her Pharmacy Degree from the Lebanese American University in 2000. She got her PhD from Paris Cité University, in microbiology in 2005 and pursued a post-doctoral work at the Institut Pasteur of France in immunology. She was the associate director of the National Reference Center for Antibiotics in France from 2007 to 2009. After this, she occupied the position of Assistant Professor at Saint Joseph University in Lebanon from 2010 to 2013 then joined the College of Natural and Health Sciences of Zayed University, Dubai Campus, where she is working now in the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences as a full professor.

Her research interests are in controlling infectious diseases by monitoring the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria to antibiotics, characterizing the related resistance mechanisms and investigating potential new therapeutic options. In paralell, she is interested in food security and is lately examining the potential for recycling organic materials into compost. She is also encouraging the uses of compost for vegetable growth by looking at the benefits of compost when incorporated in the soil of wicking beds. Another part of her research is about the intestinal mircobiota and its implication in obesity and necrotizing enterocolitis. Since the type of feeding significantly affects intestinal colonization in preterm infants, she is also analyzing the composition of human milk of breastfeeding mothers.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:

2022-present Professor, College of Natural and Health Sciences / Zayed University, Dubai
2016-2022 Associate Professor, Zayed University, Dubai
2014-2015 Assistant Professor, Zayed University, Dubai
2010-2013 Assistant Professor, Pharmacy School of Saint Joseph University, Lebanon.
2007-2009 Associate Director, National Reference Center for Antibiotics, Institut Pasteur, France.
2006-2007 Research Manager, Center for Food Safety, Danone Research, France.
2005-2006 Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Institut Pasteur, France.

Office

Dubai Academic City, C-L1-043

Phone:

+971-4-402 1745

Email:

Teaching Areas

General microbiology, Biochemistry, Environmental Health
Supervision of thesis of two PhD students.

Research and Professional Activities

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PubMed
Scopus
ORCID ID

Treatment of Communicable Diseases

The College of Natural and Health Sciences is supporting my research related to the control of communicable diseases and is particularly helping in fighting the development of antimicrobial resistance, identified as one of the most pressing global threats to human health. Since 2014, I am monitoring the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the UAE, and I have led the first investigation of carbapenem resistance in Dubai. As member of the National Sub-Committee for Antimicrobial Surveillance, I participated to the creation of a national network of currently 39 microbiology laboratories and 248 clinical surveillance sites across the country. These laboratories and surveillance sites are key to generating, collecting, and reporting antimicrobial resistance surveillance data. The data received represents contributing data to the global AMR Surveillance System (GLASS), established in 2015 by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Treatment of Non-Communicable Diseases

I am the principal investigator of a research project on the treatment of obesity, the leading cause of non-communicable diseases in the Arab world. I am analyzing the effects of bariatric surgery on gut microbiota and energy metabolism of obese Emirati adults. This research will provide essential data to the UAE Microbiome national project and will help health care professionals and scientists identify potential treatments individualized to the Emirati population.

Food Security

I am also participating to the activities of KULNA GARDEN, an Interdisciplinary Learning Site on Sustainability for Undergraduate Students in Zayed University, Dubai Campus. Over more than three years, multiple courses actively collaborated to incorporate different components of sustainable and environmental practices into their individual course curriculums. These included testing ideal methods and/or recipes for composting; measuring plant growth across environmental variables; designing sustainable furniture for garden seating; producing designed packages for seed starter kits; or developing business models. This learning site focuses on promoting an environmentally sustainable food production, a fair trade, a healthy lifestyle and a positive social space. It brings together students and faculty to conduct organic waste composting and organic food production. It helps in developing a holistic view for the community on sustainable food practices and thereby assists in the road to achieving food security in the UAE.

All current research projects are funded internally by Zayed University or externally by grants allocated by the Lebanese Council for Scientific Research and Saint Joseph University (Lebanon), Air Liquide (France), and Maastricht University (Netherlands). These projects benefit from national (UAE University, Dubai Hospital, Latifa Hospital, …) and international (Saint Joseph University in Lebanon, Institut Pasteur in France, Paris Descartes University in France, Maastricht University in the Netherlands) collaborations.

CONSULTANCY & INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE:

Nestlé in Switzerland – Saint Joseph University in Lebanon – Pfizer in the UAE -Prolacta Bioscience in the USA.

MEMBERSHIP OF SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:

• Co-chair of the Scientific Committee of the Emirates Society of Clinical Microbiology (ESCM)

• Member of the National sub-committee for Antimicrobial surveillance in the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• Hammoudi Halat D, Ayoub Moubareck C. The Intriguing Carbapenemases of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Current Status, Genetic Profile, and Global Epidemiology. Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (Q2). 2022, In press.

• Ali Ahmad M, Karavetian M, Ayoub Moubareck C, Wazz G, Mahdi T, Venema K. The Association between Peptide Hormones with Obesity and Insulin Resistance Markers in Lean and Obese Individuals in the United Arab Emirates. Nutrients (Q1). 2022, 14, 1271. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14061271

• Ayoub Moubareck C, Hammoudi Halat D. The collateral effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the status of carbapenemase producing pathogens. Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology (Q1). 2022, March; 12:1-11. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.823626

• Geitani R, Ayoub Moubareck C, Costes F, Marti L, Karam Sarkis D, Touqui L. Bactericidal effects and stability of LL-37 and CAMA in the presence of human lung epithelial cells. Microbes and infection (Q2). 2022, 24, 104928:1-10.

• Ayoub Moubareck C, Halat D., Nabi A., AlSharhan M., AlDeesi Z., Han A., Celiloglu H., Sarkis D. Detection of OXA-23, GES-11 and NDM-1 among carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Dubai: A preliminary study. Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance (Q2). 2021, 24:27-28.

• Ayoub Moubareck C. Polymyxins and bacterial membranes: A review of antibacterial activity and mechanisms of resistance. Membranes (Q2). 2020, Aug; 10, 181:1-30.

• Ayoub Moubareck C, Lootah M, Tahlak M, Venema K. Profiles of Human Milk Oligosaccharides and Their Relations to the Milk Microbiota of Breastfeeding Mothers in Dubai. Nutrients (Q1). 2020, Jun; 12 (6) 1727:1-15.

• Ayoub Moubareck C, Geitani R, Zhengzhong Xu, Karam Sarkis D, Touqui L. Expression and roles of antimicrobial peptides in innate defense of airway mucosa: potential implication in cystic fibrosis. Frontiers in immunology (Q1). 2020, Jun; 11:1198.

• Ayoub Moubareck C, Halat DH. The current burden of carbapenemases: Review of significant properties and dissemination among gram-negative bacteria. Antibiotics (Q1). 2020, Apr; 9 (4) 186.

• Ayoub Moubareck C, Halat DH, Sartawi M, Lawlor K, Sarkis DK, Alatoom A. Assessment of performance of CHROMagar KPC and Xpert Carba-R assay for the detection of carbapenem resistant bacteria in rectal swabs: First comparative study from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance (Q2). 2020, Mar; 20:147-152.

• Ayoub Moubareck C, Halat DH. Insights into Acinetobacter baumannii: A review of microbiological, virulence, and resistance traits in a threatening nosocomial pathogen. Antibiotics (Q1). 2020, Mar; 9 (3) 119.

• Itani T, Ayoub Moubareck C, Mangin I, Butel MJ, Karam Sarkis D. Individual variations in intestinal microbiota were higher in preterm infants with necrotising enterocolitis than healthy controls. Acta Paediatrica (Brief report in Q1). 2019, Dec; 108 (12):2294-2295.

• Ayoub Moubareck C, Halat D., Akkawi C., Nabi A., AlSharhan M., AlDeesi Z., Peters C., Celiloglu H., Sarkis D. Role of outer membrane permeability, efflux mechanism, and carbapenemases in carbapenem-nonsusceptible Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Dubai hospitals: Results of the first cross-sectional survey. International Journal of Infectious Diseases (Q1). 2019. Jul;84:143-150.

• Geitani R, Ayoub Moubareck C, Touqui L, Karam Sarkis D. Cationic antimicrobial peptides: alternatives and/or adjuvants to antibiotics active against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. BMC Microbiol (Q2). 2019 Mar 8;19(1):54.

• Ayoub Moubareck C, Mouftah S., Pál T., Ghazawi A., Halat D., Nabi A., AlSharhan M., AlDeesi Z., Peters C., Celiloglu H., Sannegowda M., Sarkis D., Sonnevend A. Clonal emergence of Klebsiella pneumoniae ST14 co-producing OXA-48-type and NDM carbapenemases with high rate of colistin resistance in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (Q1). 2018, Jul; 52(1):90-95.

• Itani T, Ayoub Moubareck C, Melki I, Rousseau C, Mangin I, Butel MJ, Karam Sarkis D. Preterm infants with necrotising enterocolitis demonstrate an unbalanced gut microbiota. Acta Paediatrica (Q1). 2018, Jan 107 (1) :40-47.

• Hammoudi Halat, D., Ayoub Moubareck, C., Karam Sarkis, D. Heterogeneity of carbapenem resistance mechanisms among Gram-negative pathogens in Lebanon: results of the first cross-sectional countrywide study. Microbial Drug Resistance (Q2). 2017, Sep; 23(6):733-743.

• Itani T, Ayoub Moubareck C, Melki I, Rousseau C, Mangin I, Butel MJ, Karam Sarkis D. Establishment and development of the intestinal microbiota of preterm infants in a Lebanese tertiary hospital. Anaerobe (Q2). 2017 Feb: 43:4-14.