Dr. Alhusban’s research combines cheminformatics techniques and machine-learning based approaches to study the interactions of proteins or glycated proteins with small molecules or glycans. Natural products and glycoscience research constitute her primary focus for the development of novel drug entities and biopharmaceuticals targeting challenging diseases and their mechanisms. This includes ligand- and protein-structure-based computational methods and AI generative models. Dr. Alhusban also is skilled in the total and semi-synthesis of natural products and natural product identification from plant extracts. Previous research includes projects focused on developing computational models to discover estrogen receptor related actives and pregnane X receptor (PXR)-related concerns in botanicals.
Research Interests
- Interactions of proteins or glycated proteins
- Natural products and novel drug entities
- Biopharmaceuticals targeting
- Total and semi-synthesis of natural products
- Natural product identification from plant extracts
- Estrogen receptor related actives
- Pregnane X receptor (PXR)-related concerns in botanicals
Biography
Manal Alhusban obtained her Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Jordan, Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences with emphasis in Drug Design from the University of Jordan, and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences with emphasis in Pharmacognosy from the University of Mississippi. She continued as an assistant professor of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry at the Philadelphia University (Amman, Jordan, 2019-2023). Since 2023, she has been at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS, USA as a postdoctoral associate.
Education
Ph.D. Pharmacognosy, University of Mississippi (2019)