Dr. Mohamed Salah is an Associate Professor of Toxicology and Forensic Medicine at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Nanotoxicology at Zewail University of Science and Technology (Giza, Egypt). He has over two decades of experience in toxicology, molecular biology, nano-safety, and nanotechnology. Dr. Salah is interested in considering the “Safe-by-Design” concepts in the designing and synthesis of engineered nanomaterials. He studies the bio-nano interface, cellular uptake, toxicological mechanisms, and toxicity testing of nanoparticles using advanced in vitro and in vivo laboratory techniques. He participated in writing project proposals on nanotechnology applications in biomedical, environmental, and agricultural fields with a total of funds exceeding 1M US Dollars.

Before joining Baylor University, Dr. Salah was a visiting research professor at the Heart Failure Research Center at Shanghai East Hospital, affiliated with Tongji University (Shanghai, China), where he collaborated with Prof. Dr. Jian Yang at Tongji’s medical school on the application of Nanozymes (Enzyme-mimicking activity nanoparticles) as novel antioxidant therapy for the treatment of oxidative stress associated with cardiovascular diseases, funded by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. Their research findings were recently published in the Journal of Nanobiotechnology. Dr. Salah is classified and certified as a High-Level Talent (Category A) by Shanghai Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

Dr. Salah was formerly the Deputy Executive Director of the Egypt Nanotechnology Center (EGNC) affiliated with Cairo University, where he participated in an Academia-Industry collaboration mega-project for full integration of rice straw wastes to produce silica nanoparticles for deepening different local manufactures. He established the first “Egypt’s Center of Scientific Excellence for Safety and Risk Assessment of Nanotechnology and its Applications” through a funded project from the Egyptian Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF). Before joining Tongji University in China, Dr. Salah aided in the development of the post-graduate bylaw of the first Faculty of Nanotechnology for Post-graduate Studies in Egypt and the Middle East. He also managed the Center for Biotechnology Research and Services (CBRS) at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine – Cairo University, where he was the Co-PI of a collaborative project with Prof. Dr. Mostafa El-Sayed of Georgia Tech to test the efficacy of gold nanorods in breast cancer treatment using photothermal therapy (PTT) in cats and dogs. He served as the Nanotoxicity Scientific Consultant for Nanotech Egypt, the first research-based company in nanotechnology in the Middle East. He accomplished the pre-clinical study of the first “Made in Egypt” Iron-based nanocomposite for anemia treatment. He performed occupational nano-safety studies of several nanoparticles before their industrial scale-up production. 

Dr. Salah received his Ph.D. in Genetic Toxicology in 2003 from the Institute of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich (Switzerland), while he earned his Master (MVSc) in Veterinary toxicology and Bachelor’s (BVSs) degree in Veterinary Sciences from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University.

Selected Publication

1.    Chengwen Hang, Mohamed S. Moawad*, Zheyi Lin, Huixin Guo, Hui Xiong, Mingshuai Zhang, et al. (2024) Biosafe Cerium Oxide Nanozymes Protect Human Pluripotent Stem Cells and Cardiomyocytes from Oxidative Stress. Journal of Nanobiotechnology (2024) 22:132. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12951-024-02383-x

2.    Sameh S. Ali, Rania Al-Tohamy, Eleni Koutra, Mohamed S. Moawad, et al. (2021). Nanobiotechnological advancements in agriculture and food industry: Applications, nanotoxicity, and future perspectives, Science of The Total Environment, 792, 148359, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148359

3.    Sameh S. Ali, Mohamed S. Moawad, Mohamed A. Hussein, Maha Azab, et al. (2021). Efficacy of metal oxide nanoparticles as novel antimicrobial agents against multi-drug and multi-virulent Staphylococcus aureus isolates from retail raw chicken meat and giblets. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 344, pp.109116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2021.109116

4.    Mohamed M Shokry, Islam A Khalil, Abdelhaleem El-Kasapy, Ahmed Osman, Ayman Mostafa, Mohamed Salah, Ibrahim M El-Sherbiny (2019). Multifunctional prosthetic polyester-based hybrid mesh for repairing abdominal wall hernias and defects. Carbohydrate Polymers (223), pp. 115027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115027

5.    El-Shouny W.A., Moawad M.S., Haider A.S., Ali S.S., Nouh S. (2019), Antibacterial potential of a newly synthesized zinc peroxide nanoparticles (ZnO2-NPs) to combat biofilm producing multi-drug Resistant pseudomonas aeruginosa. Egyptian Journal of Botany, 59(3), pp. 657–666. https://doi.org/10.21608/EJBO.2019.7062.1277

Hago S., Mahrous E.A.,Moawad M.,Abdel-Wahab S., Abdel-Sattar E. (2019). Evaluation of antidiabetic activity of Morus nigra L. and Bauhinia variegata L. leaves as Egyptian remedies used for the treatment of diabetes, Natural Product Research, pp. 1-7.https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2019.1601094