Contact Information:
skhuri@med.miami.ed
University of Miami
926 Clinical Research Bldg
Miami, FL 33136

 

Sawsan Khuri, Ph.D.

Sawsan Khuri, Ph.D., is Bioinformatics Lead Scientist at the Center for Computational Science and Assistant Research Professor at the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Dept. of Human Genetics.  She is a graduate of Imperial College at Wye, University of London.  Dr. Khuri spent several years as a postdoctoral researcher in molecular biology and biochemistry, and during this time became more involved in bioinformatics.  Her early publications in this field are to do with protein structure-function relationships, and she now applies those skills in the context of medical genetics and SNP functionality.

Dr. Khuri is fascinated by the regulation of gene expression, and her research currently focuses on questions pertaining to chromatin remodeling and to the tissue and time specificity of gene use.  In addition to her research, Dr. Khuri is involved in several educational activities, both at the teaching and committee levels, and she is spearheading the Center for Computational Science's bioinformatics core services.  As such, she designed and lead the development of iBIS, UM's bioinformatics integrated services portal, and she established CCS's bioinformatics data analysis collaborations infrastructure.

Main Publications

  1. Luykx P., Bajic I., Khuri S. (2006) NXSensor: web tool for evaluating DNA for nucleosome exclusion sequences and accessibility to binding factors. Nucleic Acids Research, 34: W560-W565.  Webtool URL: http://www.sfu.ca/~ibajic/NXSensor/
  2. Mnayer L., Khuri S., Al-Ali H.M., Meroni G., Elsas L.J. (2006) A structure-function study of MID1 mutations associated with a mild Opitz phenotype. Molecular Genetics and Metabolism 87:198-203.
  3. Dunwell J.M., Purvis A. and Khuri S. (2004) Cupins: The most functionally diverse protein superfamily? Phytochemistry 65:7-17.
  4. Gibbings J.G., Cook B.P., Dufault M.R., Madden S.L., Khuri S., Turnbull C.J., and Dunwell J.M. (2003) Global transcript analysis of rice leaf and seed using SAGE technology. Plant Biotechnology Journal 1: 271-285.
  5. Khuri S., Bakker F.T., and Dunwell J.M. (2001) Phylogeny, function and evolution of the cupins, a structurally conserved, functionally diverse superfamily of proteins. Molecular Biology and Evolution 18: 593-605.
  6. Dunwell J.M., Khuri S., and Gane P.J. (2000) Microbial relatives of the seed storage proteins of higher plants: conservation of structure and diversification of function during evolution of the cupin superfamily. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews 64: 153-179.