Ahmed Sulaiman Al-Harrasi (; born 13 October 1974) is an

Omani Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

scientist and a professor of organic chemistry at the

University of Nizwa The University of Nizwa (UoN) was established in 2002 by the Decree of Sultan Qaboos as the first non-profit university in the Sultanate of Oman. It remains the only institution of its kind in Oman. Upon the satisfaction of all requirements se ...

Nizwa Nizwa () is the largest city in Ad Dakhiliyah Region in Oman and was the capital of Imamate of Oman, Oman proper. Nizwa is about (1.5 hour drive) from the Omani capital Muscat. The population is estimated at around 83,544 people. Nizwa is o ...

Sultanate of Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

Education

Ahmed Al-Harrasi completed his Ph.D. from

Freie Universität Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (New transformations of enantiopure 3,6-dihydro-2H-1,2-oxazines ring cleavages, ring enlargements and a novel approach to carbohydrate mimetics) in 2005. His name has appeared as the alumni Ph.D. Student of the Reissig Research Group at

. During 2007–2008 he served as an associate research professor under the

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Visiting Scholar Program from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, with a project titled "Synthesis of Isotopically Labeled Thiamin Pyrophosphate for ESR Studies on the Hydroxyethylidene-Thiamine Pyrophosphate Radical Intermediate".

Career

Ahmed Al-Harrasi is the vice-chancellor for graduate studies, research and external relations, and chairman of the Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center (NMSRC) at the

. His name appeared in the list of Elsevier BV Data for "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators" in 2019. In 2021, he was listed as one of the greatest chemists and scholars of all time in Germany. He is a member of the editorial board of the

Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...

''Phytochemistry'' journal, and a member of the Global Frankincense Alliance (GFA) advisory board. He is nominated as a member of the Scientific Board of the International Basic Science Programme (IBSP). He is a board member of the

Oman Academic Accreditation Authority The Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Education (OAAAQA), formerly the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA) is charged with assisting in the development of the higher education sector in Oman through instit ...

and Quality Assurance (OAAAQA) and nominated as a member of an advisory committee of the First Gulf Chemistry Association (GCA 2022). He is a member of the scientific committee of the Middle East International Dermatology & Aesthetic Medicine Conference & Exhibition (MEIDAM). He has been appointed as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Phytochemistry Letters, a publication available on

ScienceDirect ScienceDirect is a searchable web-based bibliographic database, which provides access to full texts of scientific and medical publications of the Dutch publisher Elsevier as well of several small academic publishers. It hosts over 18 million ...

Research

Under his chairmanship of Oman's Medicinal Plants and Marine Natural Products, he and his team of researchers successfully isolated and enhanced the percentage of AKBA (beta- boswellic acid, keto-beta-boswellic acid, and acetyl-keto-beta-boswellic acid). He is investigating the potential use of extracts from frankincense to prevent or treat COVID-19 infection. He conducted a genome sequencing of naturally grown garlic and ginger to understand the plants' biosynthesis and how they synthesize antibiotics naturally. He is also involved in the genetic sequencing of COVID-19 variants in Oman, and detected a rare strain of COVID-19 in Oman.

Participations

Ahmed Al-Harrasi was the winner of the 2016 National Research Award (NRA) in the Environment and Biological Resources category, given by The Research Council (TRC), Oman. He signed a research cooperation programme between

Sultan Qaboos University Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) () is a public university located in al-Seeb, Oman. Established in 1986, it is one of the two public universities in the country and is named after Qaboos bin Said al-Said, the Sultan of Oman from 1970 until 202 ...

and the University of Nizwa to enhance research and development. *He was the chair of the first International Conference on Frankincense and Medicinal Plants: Recent Advances in Research and Industry held at

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

, Sultanate of Oman. *He presented various scientific topics in natural and medical sciences at

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU; ) is a public university located within Education City in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. The university, a member of Qatar Foundation, was founded in 2010. The university began graduating students in 2014. I ...

(HBKU),

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. *He participated in the annual session of the eighth meeting of the Education and Research Committee by the State Council, Sultanate of Oman, to discuss scientific research and development in private universities of the Sultanate of Oman.

Award

Ahmed Al-Harrasi received the Order of Royal Commendation from His Majesty, The Sultan of Oman as an outstanding Omani individual for his remarkable contribution and active role in research.

Patent

* Budesonide Nano Prodrug.

Books

* ''Chemistry and Bioactivity of Boswellic Acids and Other Terpenoids of the Genus Boswellia'', Authors: Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Hidayat Hussain, René Csuk, Husain Khan Print , Electronic * ''Biology of Genus Boswellia'', Authors: Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Abdul Latif Khan, Sajjad Asaf, Ahmed Al-Rawahi, Springer. * ''Role of Essential Oils in the Management of COVID-19'', Authors:Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Saurabh Bhatia, Tapan Behl, Deepak Kaushik, Md. Khalid Anwer, Mohammed Muqtader Ahmed, P.B. Sharma, Md. Tanvir Kabir, Vineet Mittal, Ajay Sharma, Routledge.

References

External links

*
Ahmed Al Harrasi
Research Gate {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrasi, Ahmed 1974 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Nizwa Omani chemists Free University of Berlin alumni Sultan Qaboos University alumni Arab chemists