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Dr Fatima Labeed is Associate Professor in Electrophysiology at the Department of Biology, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE.

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Previously, she worked for over 15 years in the Centre for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Surrey, UK.  She has over 20 years experience in researching the electrical correlates of biological function.  Her research has encompassed a wide range of cell types, from stem cells and cancer cells to myocytes, adipocytes and blood.  

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Her research is in the application of dielectrophoresis to novel subject areas such as stem cells, drug discovery and cancer research and diagnosis. Fatima has built up a highly diverse international portfolio of collaborations to use dielectrophoresis to examine the electrophysiology of a range of different cell types. Examples of this include the use of electrophysiology as a diagnostic tool for oral cancer (with the Eastman Dental Institute in London), as a new way of observing changes of stem cells as they become cancerous (with the Gade Institute in Norway); as a discriminator between human neural stem cells with different differentiation fates (with University California Irvine), as well as work with collaborators at Surrey to observe for the first time a cyclical circadian variation in the electrical properties of red blood cells over a 24 hour period, which may unlock deeper understanding of the body’s circadian rhythms.  

 

She has published over 50 journal papers and presented over 30 papers at international conferences, as well as giving six invited talks.  She has also supervised or co-supervised 14 PhD students and been a successful applicant both industrial, medical and research council funding. Her h-index is 28.

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Prior to her current role, she worked for 15 years in the Centre for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Surrey, UK.  Her first degree is in Biochemistry (1998, University of London), followed by Clinical Biochemistry with Molecular Biology (MSc, University of Surrey, 2000) and a PhD in cancer biology (University of Surrey, 2004).