Hisham Shaikh Email & Phone Number

Ostend, Flemish Region, Belgium

In November 2019, I started as Scientific Assistant for the Life’s Roots and Rates division at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). I am currently working on developing a research line in the field of marine viral ecology under the supervision of Dr. Maarten De Rijcke. This project will culminate in a PhD in Marine Sciences from the University of Ghent, Belgium.I am excited to take on the challenge of unravelling the North Sea virome using metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches. I am also looking forward to increasing our understanding of viral community structure and their spatiotemporal dynamics with respect to biotic and abiotic factors. Throughout the course of my project, I will put efforts in dissecting the host-virus pairs and other associated interactions. Finally, a part of my project will be concerned with the activity of viruses in the North Sea where I will estimate temporal changes in viral lysis rate of bacteria.

Gemeente Texel, North Holland, Netherlands

As part of my Erasmus+ Traineeship, I will spend the next few months in the lab of Prof. Dr. Corina Brussaard at the Department of Microbiology and Biogeochemistry at NIOZ, Texel to learn the various techniques in the field of marine viral ecology.During the course of my stay, I plan to pick up the techniques on viral production, differentiating between the lytic and lysogenic viral production in bacteria, grazing of bacteria by heterotrophic nanoflagellates, and sampling for metagenomic sequencing of viruses, among many others.I will be assessing the changes in viral activity by estimating viral production over a month. I will also accompany the MMB Virus Lab onboard R/V Pelagia on an autumn cruise to estimate viral activity and to further unravel the diversity of marine viruses in the North Sea.NIOZ will serve as a perfect kick-start to my PhD at UGent and VLIZ.

Brussels, Brussels Region, Belgium

Melbourne, Australia

I carried out my master’s thesis for EMMC in TROPIMUNDO at the Marine Microbial Symbiont Facility at the University of Melbourne, Australia under the supervision of Dr. Keren Maor-Landaw, Prof. Dr. Geoffrey McFadden and Prof. Dr. Madeleine van Oppen. Here, I was privileged to be a part of the discovery project on cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbioses. I focused on the question of how a cnidarian host controls the proliferation of its photosynthetic algal symbionts.To prove that a host control exists, I used flow cytometry to assess the cell cycle progression in freshly isolated and cultured Breviolum minutum from Exaiptasia diaphana sea anemone. I then investigated the role of Dynamin, a membrane-remodelling GTPase, as a physico-mechanical control exerted by the cnidarian host. I used RT-qPCR, transcriptomics and a few bioinformatic tools to answer this question.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Marine Sciences

I joined the University of Ghent in November 2019 to pursue a PhD in Marine Sciences under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Anne Willems.

Education record

Activities and Societies: Student Representative 2018-2019 Steering Board 2019 Selection Committee 2019 Internal Evaluation Committee 2019

Master'S Of Science, Tropical Biodiversity And Ecosystems

Activities and Societies: Student Representative 2018-2019

Master'S Of Science, Tropical Biodiversity And Ecosystems

Activities and Societies: Student Representative 2018-2019

Master Of Science - Ms, Marine Biology And Biological Oceanography

Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems.

Master'S Degree, Tropical Biodiversity And Ecosystems

Bachelor Of Science - Bsc, Life Sciences