Hafid Soualhine, PhD

Research summary

Dr. Hafid Soualhine leads a group at the National Microbiology Laboratory that provides diagnosis, reference, and surveillance services for tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria. His research focuses on molecular epidemiology and developing new rapid detection and characterization tools. The team collaborates with northern communities and territorial/provincial governments for active and latent tuberculosis screening. They use advanced omics technologies, such as next-generation sequencing and mass spectrometry-based proteomics and transcriptomics, combined with computational approaches to study tuberculosis transmission, pathogenesis, drug resistance, and host-pathogen interactions.

Research interests

• Active and latent tuberculosis in remote populations
• Biomarkers and recombinant vaccines
• Drug resistance
• Innovative diagnostics for microbial infections

Research affiliations

Research groups:

• Investigator, McGill International Tuberculosis Centre

Graduate students:

• Currently accepting master's and PhD students

Brief bio

Dr. Hafid Soualhine is an adjunct professor at the Max Rady College of Medicine, specializing in medical microbiology and infectious diseases. He leads the Canadian TR Reference Lab, focusing on innovative technologies to rapidly detect and predict drug-resistant tuberculosis and related infectious diseases. He collaborates with national and international partners to achieve national tuberculosis elimination targets. Dr. Soualhine manages research projects on innovative diagnostics, surveillance, and new recombinant vaccines.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular Biology, Pasteur Institute/University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah (2001)
• Post-doctoral fellowship, Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie, Laval University (2002-2005)
• Post-doctorate, University of British Columbia (2006-2007)