Education
Dr. Al Batran earned his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the Arab International University, Syria, in 2009. He completed his PhD in cardiovascular pharmacology in 2014 and went on to train with Dr. John Ussher as a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta. In 2020, Dr. Al Batran was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Montreal, where he established his own research lab. His primary research focus is on investigating how obesity-induced changes in energy metabolism contribute to the development of obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and how targeting energy metabolism can be a potential therapeutic strategy to combat these diseases.
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Teaching
PHA1140 - Fonctionnement normal du corps humain 4 (Endocrinology)
PHA2170 - Soins pharmaceutiques : Endocrinologie (Thyroid Disorders)
SBP1007 - Fonctionnement normal et pathologique du corps humain II (The Digestive System)
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Lab Members
Abdualrahman Abdualkader
Research Associate
Dr. Abdualkader has MSc and PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from International Islamic University Malaysia. He has over fifteen years of virtual screening and molecular docking , as well as drug discovery of small and macro molecules.
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Research axes: Role of BCAA and BCKA in Insulin Resistance
Xiaobei Li
PhD Student
Xiaobei completed her Master's degree in 2023 from Peking Union Medical College, Tsinghua University, China. She then relocated to Montreal, Canada, to join Al Batran's laboratory in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université de Montréal. Currently, Xiaobei is conducting research on the long-term effects of a ketogenic diet on atherosclerosis in mice.
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Research axes: Ketone Body Metabolism and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease
Jiaheng Guan
PhD Student
Jiaheng completed her Master's degree in 2024 from Southeast University, China. She then relocated to Montreal, Canada, to join Al Batran's laboratory in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université de Montréal. Currently, Jiaheng is conducting research on the role of ketone metabolism in diabetic nephropathy.
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Research axes: Ketone Body Metabolism and Diabetic Nephropathy
Yiming Yin
PhD Student
Yiming completed her Master's degree in 2024 from Zhejiang University, China. She then relocated to Montreal, Canada, to join Al Batran's laboratory in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université de Montréal. Currently, Yiming is conducting research on the role of ketone metabolism in fatty liver diseases.
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Research axes: Ketone Body Metabolism and Fatty Liver Diseases