Afaf El-Sagheer

Afaf studied chemistry at Suez Canal University (Egypt) and did her PhD research at Southampton University with Professor John Mellor where she developed a novel route to the synthesis of trifluoroacetyl aromatic molecules starting from heterocyclic compounds. After her PhD, she moved back to Egypt to become a lecturer then promoted to associate Professor in 2009 then Professor in 2014 at Suez University. Afaf is on a long term sabbatical working at Chemistry department in Oxford as Research Fellow on the use of click chemistry to assemble novel long modified biocompatible DNA and RNA constructs for modified gene synthesis/editing and on new methods of modified DNA synthesis and its applications in biology and medicine (diagnostics and therapeutics). She has collaborators from Oxford and around the world and some of the reagents she developed are commercially available. Afaf is very passionate about science and has more than 150 publications including high impact factor journals, patents and book’s chapters. She was invited to give talks in scientific meetings in UK, Europe, USA and China.