My main research interests focus on the molecular, cellular and physiological responses of marine fish to the climate changes and to environmental and anthropogenic stressors. I also focus my research on aspects related with the improvement of growth and quality traits in the promising aquaculture fish species in the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia. I am particularly interested on the immunomodulatory effects of ultraviolet radiation (UV) in fish at different development stages.

The main objective of our ongoing project in KAUST is to characterize the general mechanisms underlying the molecular and cellular changes related to the immunomodulatory effects of UV exposure in fish, particularly those with a potential for aquaculture along the Red Sea coast. In this study, we pretend to answer some of the following questions: What are the molecular mechanisms underlying the immunodulatory effects of UV-B exposure in fish? How these immunodulatory effects are related to physiological and metabolic changes, and how these affects the fish survival and growth? Does the resistance of fish to specific pathogens decreases after exposure to UV radiation? 

We also pretend to address the synergistic interaction between UV radiation and other environmental stressors.