Dr Ismail received his BSc and MSc degrees in pesticide chemistry and toxicology from Alexandria University (AU), Egypt. After graduation, he lectured in chemistry and pesticides modules to undergraduate and postgraduate students. In 2007, he moved to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to work on molecular aspects of drug and insecticide resistance.
Dr Ismail is currently a Senior Research Associate in the Vector Biology Department. His research focusses on developing and applying rigorous chemical biology approaches for interrogating complex biological systems to gain a mechanistic and functional understanding of bioactive-small molecule interactions with protein targets in physiological and pathological pathways. His research in chemical biology provides a combination of innovative chemical technologies and holistic system biology approaches to accelerate the fundamental discoveries in the areas of insecticides and antimicrobial resistance and host-pathogen interactions.
Key research grants
- £962,023 - Medical Research Council (Feb 2021- January 24) Preemptive discovery of insecticide cross- resistance mechanisms for next generation malaria control products Mark Paine (P.I.), (RCoI) Hanafy M. Ismail, Co-PIs; David Weetman, Gareth Lycett (LSTM). Start date, 1st of February 2021.
- £82,732- Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC). HPLC Analysis of tenebenal content in filter papers PIs Mark Paine and Hanafy Ismail. 1st of December 20- 31st of December 2022.
- £95,400 - BBSRC Anti-Vec Pump Priming award. Targeted disruption of the steroid hormone inactivation pathway in Anopheles mosquitoes for malaria control. Mark Paine (P.I.), Co-PIs, Hanafy M. Ismail, Gareth Lycett (LSTM), Luc Salako Djogbenou, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin- April 2019-December 2021.
- £38,966 - CEIDR Translational Pump Priming Award. Click-chemistry to enhance the therapeutic efficacy and translational potential of the IgG1-Fc PI Richard Pleass, Co-PIs Paul O’Neill (Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool), Hanafy M. Ismail (LSTM) and Stephen Ward (LSTM). April 2019-December 2021.
- £47,826 - CEIDR Translational Pump Priming Award. Development of smart molecules for tracking insecticides from surface to target PI Mark Paine (LSTM) Co-I’s Rasmita Raval (University of Liverpool) and Hanafy M. Ismail (LSTM). April 2019-December 2021.
- $ 99,955 - The Global Fund. Reviewing the evidence for and against the selection of specific pyrethroids for programmatic purposes. P.I.s Dr Rosemary Lees (LSTM), Prof Hilary Ranson (LSTM), Dr David Weetman (LSTM), Dr Mark Paine (LSTM), Dr Hanafy M. Ismail (LSTM), Prof Philip McCall (LSTM), Dr Thomas Churcher (Imperial College London), Assoc Prof Catherine Moyes (Big Data Institute, University) and Dr Penny Hancock (University of Oxford)- January 2020- December 2020.
