Mohamed MF Fareh 43rd Lorne Genome Conference 2022

Mohamed MF Fareh

Mohamed Fareh is a senior research fellow with background in RNA biology, CRISPR, and advanced quantitative single-molecule approaches. He completed his Ph.D. training in France, where he investigated the role of non-coding RNAs in regulating tumor heterogeneity and cell plasticity. Following this, he pursued postdoctoral training in single-molecule biophysics in the Netherlands, where he developed advanced single-molecule pulldown and fluorescence assays to study RNA interference and CRISPR dynamics at nanometer and millisecond scales. In August 2018, Mohamed joined the Trapani lab at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre as a senior research fellow, where he initiated new research directions aimed at effectively silencing tumor and viral RNAs using innovative CRISPR tools. His current research focuses on three primary areas: (i) understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying various CRISPR enzymes at the nanoscale level, (ii) engineering innovative CRISPR-based therapeutics, and (iii) developing lipid nanoparticles for targeted delivery of CRISPR therapeutics. Recently, Mohamed and his colleagues uncovered crucial design principles of CRISPR-Cas13, enabling efficient and precise silencing of oncogenic RNAs (Hu et al, BioRxiv; Shembrey et al, BioRxiV), as well as infectious viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 (Fareh* et al, Nature commun, 2021).