Rate My Professor Elsa Bou Ghanem

Elsa Bou Ghanem, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, a position she has held since her promotion in 2024 after serving as Assistant Professor from 2018 to 2024. She completed her BS in Medical Laboratory Sciences at the American University of Beirut in 2004, MS in Microbiology and Immunology at the same institution in 2006, and PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Kentucky in 2011. Prior to her faculty appointment at UB, Bou Ghanem conducted postdoctoral training and served as Research Associate in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Tufts University School of Medicine from 2011 to 2018.

Bou Ghanem's research centers on age-driven dysregulation of neutrophil responses during Streptococcus pneumoniae infections, vaccine efficacy in aged hosts, and immunomodulatory pathways such as extracellular adenosine signaling and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production. Her lab has published key works including "Mitochondrial ROS production by neutrophils is required for host antimicrobial function against Streptococcus pneumoniae and is controlled by A2B adenosine receptor signaling" (PLoS Pathogens, 2022), "Damage response signaling by the extracellular adenosine pathway: control of infection outcome during host aging" (mSphere, 2025), "Adenosine 2B Receptor Signaling Impairs Vaccine-Mediated Protection Against Pneumococcal Infection in Young Hosts by Blunting Neutrophil Killing of Antibody-Opsonized Bacteria" (Vaccines, 2025), and "Sex-based difference in immune responses and efficacy of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine" (Journal of Leukocyte Biology, 2025). She has obtained substantial NIH funding as principal investigator on NIA R01 and R21 grants exceeding $2.5 million and serves on editorial boards for Journal of Leukocyte Biology and Infection and Immunity since 2022. Awards include the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (2016), Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellowship funded by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2013), JSMBS Inaugural Excellence in Mentoring Award for Research (2025), and Excellence in Leukocyte Biology Early Career Award Finalist (2022). As Associate Director of Graduate Studies since 2025, she contributes to doctoral training.