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BSMS > About BSMS > Contact us > Staff > Dr Leena Al-Hassan

Dr Leena Al-Hassan

A head and shoulders photo of Leena Al Hassan

Dr Leena Al-Hassan (BSc, PhD)

Senior Research Fellow in Global Health and Infection
E: L.Al-Hassan@bsms.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1273 877817
Location: G.19 Medical Research Building, BN1 9PX

PA: Debbie Miller
E: d.miller@bsms.ac.uk
T: 01273-878771

Area of expertise: Microbiology, Antibiotic resistance, Infectious Diseases, Global Health. 

Research areas: Antibiotic resistance in health-care acquired infections.

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Biography

Dr Leena Al-Hassan is a principal research fellow at the Department of Global Health and Infection leading an independent research group investigating antimicrobial resistance, molecular epidemiology and infection transmissions of Gram-Negative bacteria. Dr Leena Al-Hassan obtained her PhD in Medical Microbiology from the University of Edinburgh in 2013 where she looked at the diversity of Acinetobacter baumannii from cancer patients in Egypt. She has previously worked as a Clinical Researcher at the Children’s Cancer Hospital in Cairo responsible for coordinating clinical protocols and research studies in the infectious diseases team. Since joining BSMS, Dr Al-Hassan has established and led numerous research projects in the field of antibiotic resistance with a global health outlook, emphasising capacity building and multidisciplinary collaboration as core to the research activities, and showcasing the productive interaction between biomedical and social scientists from several countries and fostered true collaboration in an educative, stimulating and sustainable way that forms a platform for important research on AMR. Her research spans the bio-social dimensions of AMR globally evidenced by numerous original research articles in microbiology and infectious diseases. 

The PRESAR network, established and led by Dr Al-Hassan through funding from the Academy of Medical Sciences, aims to establish a sustainable One Health platform to coordinate and strengthen the collaboration between the stakeholders in advancing AMR research. She is also the co-director of the newly established Sussex Centre for Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance (SCIAMR). 

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Research

Her current research projects span several elements, including convergence of virulence and antibiotic resistance, and the role of mobile genetic elements in transferability and transmission of these elements in within a One Health outlook. I am also leading a project investigating how war can affect antibiotic resistance, looking specifically at “Iraqibacter”, identifying genetic markers in Acinetobacter baumannii from the 2003 war in Iraq, mechanisms of acquisition of antibiotic resistance from 2003 onwards, and how the current bacterial population has evolved since then. 

WIP Projects:

  • Plasmids, Adaptation, and One Health: Understanding transmission dynamics and selective pressures
  • Antimicrobial Resistance in conflict and post-conflict settings
  • What is Iraqi about Iraqibacter?
  • Antibiotic Stewardship in Middle Eastern Conflict-Affected Countries: A Situational Analysis and Potential Solutions
  • A Scoping Review of Antibiotic Resistance through a One Health Lens. Insights from the Nile Valley: Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia
  • Promoting Research Excellence and Capacity Building in Antimicrobial Resistance Research in Sudan
  • A scoping review of implementation of infection prevention and control programmes & antimicrobial stewardship in Sub Saharan African hospitals: Facilitators and barriers.
  • Building global surveillance with local data: towards a sustainable global response to antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
  • The Molecular Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Resistance patterns among Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates from Tertiary Hospitals in Rwanda
  • Working towards the establishment of Antimicrobial Resistance Stewardship programme in Yobe State University Teaching Hospital Damaturu Northeastern Nigeria

Selected publications

Osman Einas A, Omer Sara A, Rashida M A Elmubarak, Manal Abdelnabi, Safaa Abdelgadir, Dalal G Ahmed, Mohamed H Arbab Nasr, Muna Yousif, Maowia Mukhtar, Leena Al-Hassan. Antibiotic resistance in Sudan: assessing the knowledge and practices of healthcare workers in Khartoum, JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance 2024, 6, 2  https://doi.org/10.1093/jacamr/dlae049 

Osman, E.A.; Yokoyama, M.; Altayb, H.N.; Cantillon, D.; Wille, J.; Seifert, H.; Higgins, P.G.;Al-Hassan, L. Klebsiella pneumonia in Sudan: Multidrug Resistance, Polyclonal Dissemination, and Virulence. Antibiotics 2023, 12, 233. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12020233 

Desta K., Aklillu E., Gebrehiwot Y., Enquselassie F., Cantillon D., Al-Hassan L., Price J.R., Newport M., Davey G., Woldeamanuel Y. High levels of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus carriage among healthcare workers at a teaching hospital in Addis Ababa Ethiopia: First evidence using mecA detection. Infection and Drug Resistance 2022, 15:3135-3147. https://doi.org/10.2147/IDR.S360123 

Leena Al-Hassan, Hana Elbadawi, Einas Osman, Sara Ali, Kamal Elhag, Daire Cantillon, Julia Wille, Harald Seifert, Paul G. Higgins. Molecular Epidemiology of Carbapenem Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii from Khartoum State, Sudan”. Frontiers Microbiology (Front. Microbiol., 2021,12:628736. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.628736.

Einas A. Osman, N. El-Amin, Leena Al-Hassan*, Maowia Mukhtar*. Multi-clonal spread of Klebsiella pneumoniae across hospitals in Khartoum, Sudan. Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance, 2021, Volume 24: Pages 241-245. DOI: 10.1016/j.jgar.2020.12.004*Joint last lead authorship. 

Leena Al-Hassan*, Anne Roemer-Mahler*, James Price*, Jasmin Islam, Hadir El-Mahallawy, Paul G. Higgins, Amira F.A. Hussein, Ignasi Roca, Melanie Newport. The TACTIC Experience: Establishing an International, Multidisciplinary Network to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance. Journal of Medical Microbiology, 2020, 69(10):1213-1220. DOI 10.1099/jmm.0.001249*Equal contribution, joint first author.

Albasha A.M., Esraa hassan Osman E. H., Abd‑Alhalim S., Elianz F. Alshaib E. F., Al‑Hassan L., Hisham N. Altayb H. N. (2020). Detection of several carbapenems resistant and virulence genes in classical and hyper-virulent strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from hospitalized neonates and adults in Khartoum. BMC Research Notes:13: 312.

E. A. Osman, N. El-Amin, E. A.E. Adrees, L. Al-Hassan*, M. Mukhtar* (2020). Comparing conventional, biochemical and genotypic methods for accurate identification of Klebsiella pneumoniae in Sudan. Access Microbiology 2(3). DOI: 10.1099/acmi.0.000096*Equal contribution, joint last authorship

L. Al-Hassan & L. Al-Madboly (2020). Molecular characterisation of an Acinetobacter baumannii outbreak. Infection Prevention in Practice 2(2). DOI: 10.1016/j.infpip.2020.100040 

L. Al-Hassan, M. Zafer, H. El-Mahallawy (2019). Multiple Sequence Types Responsible for Healthcare-associated Acinetobacter baumannii Outbreaks in a Single Centre. BMC Infectious Diseases 19:829.

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