About
Dr. Abdelaziz joined the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences, Clemson University in November 2021 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences. He obtained his Ph.D in immunopathology from Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Canada, in conjunction with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Egypt 2011. Following his Ph.D., he completed his postdoctoral training in the Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. In 2018, he was appointed to the position of Research Associate in the same department. Before joining Clemson University, he worked for two years in the poultry vaccine industry (Ceva Animal Health Inc., Guelph, Canada) as an Innovation and Development Scientist, where he was responsible for developing and licensing vaccines against poultry coccidiosis by USDA and CFIA. His current research focuses on developing novel immune-based strategies, including vaccines, and immunostimulants, and investigating the potential use of probiotics as an alternative to antibiotics to: promote poultry gut health and immune system development and function; prevent or reduce intestinal colonization of chickens by bacterial pathogens of food safety concern, including Campylobacter jejuni, and Salmonella enterica. Another area of research in his laboratory is to develop Microbial Ecosystem Therapeutics (microbial consortia) for use in the treatment of human gastroenteritis caused by Campylobacter.
Visit Dr. Abdelaziz's Faculty Profile.
How their research is transforming health care
Dietary supplementation of antibiotics in poultry feed reduces levels of enteric bacterial pathogens. However, due to public health concerns about the impact of antibiotic residues on human health and the potential emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, in 2017, FDA regulations banned antibiotic use for growth-promoting purposes across the U.S. The removal of feed-antibiotics has resulted in the re-emergence of the well-controlled diseases of poultry and increased incidence of food-borne illness, consequently leading to their use at therapeutic doses for the treatment of these diseases in chickens and humans. The consumption of poultry products has been linked to the increased incidence of foodborne illnesses in humans, with nontyphoidal Salmonella and Campylobacter among the costliest foodborne pathogens, estimated to incur costs of around $18 billion in the US. Unfortunately, no commercial vaccines for Campylobacter exist, and existing Salmonella vaccines do not provide complete cross-protection against various serotypes. The drugs used to combat these bacterial pathogens are category 1 or 2, which are unfavorable from the “One Health” perspective. Due to these concerns, there is an increased interest in the use of antimicrobial alternatives to fill this gap.
His current research involves developing probiotics and vaccine formulations against Salmonella and Campylobacter in chickens as part of a comprehensive approach to enhance poultry health and ensure food safety. , including subunit vaccines enhanced with Toll-like receptors ligands (TLR-L) as adjuvants. Another area of research in his laboratory is to develop Microbial Ecosystem Therapeutics (microbial consortia) for treating human gastroenteritis caused by Campylobacter
Health Research Expertise Keywords
Faculty Scholar, Campylobacter, food-borne illness, gut health, diarrheal illness, vaccine, probiotics, chicken, human
