Yousef Al-Abed is the head of the Center for Molecular Innovation at the

Northwell Northwell Health is a nonprofit integrated healthcare network that is New York State's largest healthcare provider and private employer, with more than 81,000 employees. The flagship hospitals of Northwell are North Shore University Hos ...

's Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, in

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Manhasset area. The population was 8,176 at the 2020 United States ce ...

. An organic chemist by training, Dr. Al-Abed holds dual-appointment as a Professor of Molecular Medicine and Medicine at

Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell is the graduate medical school of Hofstra University in the town of Hempstead on Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. The academic institution was established in 2008 b ...

. Al-Abed received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Chemical Technology from the College of Science and Technology in Jerusalem in 1985, followed by his Master of Science degree in organic chemistry from the

University of Jordan The University of Jordan ( ar, الجامعة الأردنية), often abbreviated UJ, is a public university located in Amman, Jordan. Founded in 1962 by royal decree, it is the largest and oldest institution of higher education in Jordan. ...

in 1989 and his PhD in organic chemistry from the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

, Germany in 1994. He then served as a postdoctoral investigator at the Picower Institute for Medical Research, now known as the Feinstein Institute. Al-Abed's research has focused on a protein called

macrophage migration inhibitory factor Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), also known as glycosylation-inhibiting factor (GIF), L-dopachrome isomerase, or phenylpyruvate tautomerase is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MIF'' gene. MIF is an important regulator of i ...

as a

drug target A biological target is anything within a living organism to which some other entity (like an endogenous ligand or a drug) is directed and/or binds, resulting in a change in its behavior or function. Examples of common classes of biological targets ...

for autoimmune disease and

inflammation Inflammation (from la, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, and is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molec ...

References

{{Authority control People from Hebron Palestinian chemists American people of Palestinian descent