Our labs research interests are in Coral Reef Ecological Genomics in the Red Sea (CREGRS). Coral reefs represent one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. They are, however, extremely fragile and endangered due to human imposed exploitation, pollution, and global warming. We apply an Evolutionary Genomics and Systems Biology approach to understand reef ecology and to develop conservation guidelines.

Briefly, we focus on:

• The role of adaptive evolution and coral-specific genes in molecular mechanisms of bleaching and stress.
• The molecular machinery of mutualism between corals and algae.
• The role of prokaryotes in these processes.