Dr. Halwani obtained a PhD in virology and immunology from McGill University, Montreal, Canada where he was studying HIV viral assembly and viral cellular interaction. He then did a postdoctoral fellowship at the CHUM research center with Dr. Rafick Sekaly where he was trained as an immunologist studying qualitative and quantitative immune correlates of protection against viral infection especially HIV. Dr Halwani....More. developed extensive expertise in both molecular biology and cellular immunology including the development of assays to measure T cell survival and persistence in non-humans primates. He was also among the first to successfully implement the use of phosFLow technology, which allows measuring phosphorylated molecules by flow cytometry to monitor T cell activation ex vivo, on samples from non-human primates. His major contribution to a better understanding of SIV pathogenesis and treatment was through investigating different vaccination strategies (DNA, cytokine adjuvants, as well as viral vector (MVA, Adv5)) leading to the generation and maintenance of CD4/CD8 memory T cells in healthy and SIV-infected macaques. Dr. Halwani is currently affiliated with King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, where he has established a national immunology laboratory involved in studying the molecular mechanisms involved in asthma pathogenesis as well as primary immune deficiencies. - See more at: http://fac.ksu.edu.sa/rhalwani/page/21787#sthash.mByJ7Oup.dpuf