Dr. Mohamed Helmy is a computational systems biologist leading the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Lab (BSBL) at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO). He earned his undergraduate degree in Genetics from Al-Azhar University (Cairo, Egypt) and a postgraduate diploma in Information Technology from the Information Technology Institute (ITI) (Giza, Egypt). Dr. Helmy holds MSc and PhD degrees in Computational Systems Biology from Keio University (Tokyo, Japan) and completed postdoctoral training in Bioinformatics at Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan) and the University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada).
Dr. Helmy has experience in both academia and industry. He previously served as Head of Bioinformatics at BenchSci.com, where he led the development of the bioinformatics platform for an AI-powered biological reagent search engine. In 2019, he joined A*STAR in Singapore, where he worked as a Senior Bioinformatics Specialist and Research Scientist at the Singapore Institute for Biotechnology and Food Innovation (SIFBI) and the Bioinformatics Institute (BII), respectively. Dr. Helmy is an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Computer Science and the School of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Lakehead University (Thunder Bay, Canada), an Affiliated Faculty at Idaho State University (USA) and a Visiting research Scientist at the Bioinformatics Institute (BII) (A*STAR, Singapore).
In 2023, Dr. Helmy joined VIDO to establish a research program focused on advancing Bioinformatics and Systems Biology in vaccine and infectious disease research. His lab's research interests are highly interdisciplinary, spanning computer science, biomedical sciences, public health, and immunology.
Current areas of focus include:
- Comprehensive omics data analysis: The lab analyzes viral and bacterial genomics data, bulk and single-cell RNA-Seq data, and multi-omics datasets to study pathogen evolution, host-pathogen interactions, and immune responses to uncovers molecular mechanisms of infectious diseases and supporting vaccine development.
- Software, methods and database development: The lab develops tools, algorithms, and databases for processing, visualizing, and sharing biological data. These resources support efficient omics data analysis, biological modeling, and collaborative research in infectious disease and vaccine development.
- Generative AI (GenAI) applications: The lab is interested in GenAI applications for vaccine development and infectious disease research and addressing ethical and regulatory challenges. Efforts focus on responsible AI usage, minimizing bias, and ensuring transparency to drive equitable advancements in infectious disease research.
Projects:
- The Canadian Bioinformatics Hub
- Histophilosis
- Mycoplasma bovis