Dr Abdalla Z Mohamed is a postdoctoral research fellow at UniSC's Thompson Institute. His research is focussed on the use of neuroimaging to study neuropsychological issues, including trauma, ageing and dementia and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
Abdalla graduated with a Bachelor in Science and Master in Science in biomedical engineering at 2012 and 2016. He obtained his PhD from the Queensland Brain Institute, the University of Queensland in 2021. He started working in the field of neuroimaging in 2013 with experience in brain imaging and analysis.
During his PhD, he used neuroimaging modalities - including structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and positron emission tomography - to study the possible risk of Alzheimer’s disease following trauma in the form of traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He investigated this link in both human trauma survivors and animal models with the aim to translate the observed findings from the humans into animals for pathological investigation and to help in developing the future interventions to reduce the risk for developing dementia.
His research is focused on the integrative translational neuroimaging, including generating and testing hypotheses and identifying brain changes underlying neurological and mental disorders.
Professional and scientific societies
- International Society International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM)
- Egyptian Syndicate of Engineers
Academic awards and bursaries
- Alzheimer’s Association International conference- Neuroscience Next, Lightning Abstract, 2020
- The highest ranked abstract at the 2020 Biological Psychiatry Australia conference, Sydney/Virtual, 2020
- Trainee (Educational) Stipend Award from ISMRM 28th Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2020
- Queensland Brain Institute Student Travel Grant, 2019
- Trainee (Educational) Stipend Award from ISMRM 27th Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2019, Montreal, Canada, 2019
- Scientific Category Winner for the Queensland Brain Institute Annual Art in Neuroscience Image and Video Contest, 2017
- Queensland University Scholarship for Research Higher Degree, 2016-2020
- Kyung Hee University President Scholarship for Master’s Degree Studentship, 2013-2016
- Distinction with honour for Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, 2012
- Excellence Scholarship and Financial Support from Cairo University (Covering the Tuition Fees and Small Financial Support), 2009-2012
Conference presentations
- Traumatic Brain Injury May Fast-Forward Alzheimer’s Pathology: Evidence from Amyloid PET, Alzheimer’s Association International conference- Neuroscience Next, Online/Virtual (Lightning Abstract, Oral presentation + Media Coverage)
- Traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder are associated with persistent white matter disruption in Vietnam War veterans, Biological Psychiatry Australia, 19-20 October 2020, Sydney/Virtual. (Highest Ranked Abstract; Oral)
- Diffusion tensor imaging reveals persistent microstructural alterations up to six months in an open-head traumatic brain injury, Digital Poster, ISMRM 28th Annual Meeting & Exhibition, 8-14 August 2020, Online Conference
- Diffusion Tensor Imaging reveals extensive white matter alterations in the aftermath of traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder in Vietnam War veterans, Poster presentation, Systems & Computational Neuroscience Down Under (SCINDU) workshop, 29-31 January 2020, Queensland Brain Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- The multi-play of diffusion tensor imaging and immunohistochemistry to unveil the longitudinal microstructural brain alterations in a closed head brain injury model, Digital Poster, ISMRM 2019, Montreal, Canada
- Sensorimotor connectivity changes due to facial peripheral neuropathy: fMRI study, Poster Presentation, Organization of Human Brain Mapping Conference, JUNE 14-18, 2015, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
- Acupuncture induces long-term changes for Sensorimotor Network of Bell’s palsy in resting state, Poster presentation, The 10th annual International Congress of Complementary Medicine Research (ICCMR 2015), May 13-15,2015, International Conventional Center Jeju (ICC Jeju), South Korea.
- Unilateral facial nerve paralysis induced changes in DMN functional connectivity; a fMRI study, Oral Presentation, 7th Cairo International Biomedical Engineering Conference, December 11-13, Mena House Hotel, Giza, Egypt
- Acupuncture effect on motor functional connectivity change in facial palsy; fMRI study, Oral Presentation, International Symposium on Acupuncture Research, May 30- June 1, 2014, Beijing, China
- Acupuncture induces long-term changes for Sensorimotor Network of Bell’s palsy in resting state, Poster presentation, The 10th annual International Congress of Complementary Medicine Research (ICCMR 2015), May 13-15,2015, International Conventional Center Jeju (ICC Jeju), South Korea
- Unilateral facial nerve paralysis induced changes in DMN functional connectivity; a fMRI study, Oral Presentation, 7th Cairo International Biomedical Engineering Conference, December 11-13, Mena House Hotel, Giza, Egypt
- Acupuncture effect on motor functional connectivity change in facial palsy; fMRI study, Oral Presentation, International Symposium on Acupuncture Research, May 30- June 1, 2014, Beijing, China
Other
Lead of the MRI discussion group at the Thompson Institute
Research areas
- Trauma
- Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)
- Neuroimaging
- Magnetic resonance imaging
Publications summary
- Mohamed AZ*, Corrigan F*, et al. “Evaluating spatiotemporal microstructural alterations following diffuse traumatic brain injury.”, Neuroimage Clinical, 2020;25: 102136. [IF: 3.943]
- Nasrallah F, Mohamed AZ, et al., “Functional connectivity of brain associated with passive range of motion exercise: proprioceptive input promoting motor activation?”, Neuroimage, 202, 116023. [IF: 5.812]
- Mohamed AZ, Cumming P, Götz J, et al., “Tauopathy in non-demented veterans with long-term post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury”, Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging, 2019 May;46(5):1139-1151. [IF: 7.277]
- Blackmore D, Turpin F, Mohamed AZ, et al., “Multimodal analysis of aged wild-type mice exposed to repeated scanning ultrasound treatments demonstrates long-term safety.”, Theranostics, 2018, 8 (22), 6233. [IF: 8.712]
- Mohamed AZ, Cumming P, et al., “Amyloid pathology fingerprint differentiates post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury”, Neuroimage Clinical, 2018, 19, 716-726. [IF: 4.348]