Summary
- New resources to control melon Fusarium wilt in the Middle East.
- Development of aromatic plant production systems tolerant to irrigation with treated effluents.
- Flora Palaestina; conserving the plants, preserving the knowledge.
- Improve wheat production under climate changes in the Middle East region.
Role

My current role is to lead and drive forward BERC’s research and conservation via helping to deliver its science strategy. In so doing I will strengthen its position as a local resource for plant biodiversity and fungal knowledge, and promote plant and fungal-based solutions to current global challenges.
Medicinal Plants, Ethnobotany, Ethnopharmacology, Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine (TAPHM); Plant Ecology and Conservation Biology; Environmental Biotechnology (e.g., biofouling of membranes in MBR and RO units: biofouling mechanisms and control; constructed wetlands sustainable use of wastewater treatment and reuse in small communities); Plant Molecular Biology; Epigenetics; Genomics; Phytopathology & Biocontrol Science; Medical Mycology: Dermatophytosis, Candidiasis; Environmental Health; essential oil research.
Background
- BSc. (Excellent with Hons), Agric Sciences, Cairo, Egypt, 1970.
- PhD, Univ. Reading, England, 1982.
- 1989-1990 Fulbright Fellowship, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
- 1996-2013 Professor of Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biology and Biotechnology, An-Najah University, Nablus, Palestine.
- 2001-now Professor of Biology and Biotechnology, Biodiversity and Biotechnology Research Unit, Biodiversity & Environmental Research Center (BERC), Til, Nablus, Palestine.
- 1988-1996 Assoc. Prof. of Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biological Sciences, An-Najah University, Nablus, Palestine.
- 1982-1988 Assistant Prof. of Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biological Sciences, An-Najah University, Nablus, Palestine.
- 1989-1990 Fulbright Fellowship, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
- Editor-in-Chief, Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences Studies Series, BESSS
- Editorial Board, Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM), Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
- 1987 Awarded the Abdul-Hameed Shoman Foundation Prize (a Pan-Arab Prize) for Arab Scientists in Biological Sciences for the Year 1986, Amman, Jordan.
- 2000 Awarded the Hisham Hijjawi Award for Applied Sciences in the Field of Industry and Environment for The Year 1999, in recognition of the distinguished applied scientific value of research article entitled: "Ecology of cycloheximide-resistant fungi in field soils receiving raw city wastewater or normal irrigation water. "Mycopathologia 144:39-54.
- 2000 Awarded the Hisham Hijjawi Award for Applied Sciences in the Field of Agriculture and Water for the Year 1999, in recognition of the distinguished applied scientific value of research work entitled: "Olive Mills Wastewater (OMW) Treatment Using Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) Reactor."
- 2001 Awarded the Hisham Hijjawi Award for Applied Sciences in the Field of Agriculture, Water, and Environment for the Year 2000, in recognition of the distinguished applied scientific value of research article: Isolation of Pythium acanthicum, P. oligandrum, and P. periplocum from soil and evaluation of their mycoparasitic activity and biocontrol efficacy against selected phytopathogenic Pythium species. Mycopathlogia 145:143-153.
- 2001 Awarded the “Scientific Foundation of Hisham Adeeb Hijjawi Plaque” for the Year 2000, in recognition of outstanding scientific achievement in applied sciences research.
- Abu-Zaitoun S. Y., Chandrasekhar K., Assili S., Shtaya M. J., Jamous R. M., Mallah O. B., Nashef K., Sela H., Distelfeld A., Alhajaj N., Ali-Shtayeh M. S., Peleg Z. and Ben-David R. Unlocking the Genetic diversity within a Middle-East panel of Durum wheat landraces for adaptation to semi-arid climate. Agronomy 2018, 8, 233; doi:10.3390/agronomy8100233 www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy
- Abu-Zaitoun S. Y., Jamous R. M., Shtaya M. J., Mallah O. B., Eid I. S., Ali-Shtayeh M. S.: Characterizing Palestinian snake melon (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) germplasm diversity and Structure using SNP and DArTseq markers. BMC Plant Biology 10/2018; 18(1). DOI:10.1186/s12870-018-1475-2.
- Ali-Shtayeh M. S., and Rana M Jamous R. M. Updating the Plant “Red List” of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip): Conservation assessments and recommendations. Journal of Biodiversity & Endangered Species 2018, 6:4 DOI: 10.4172/2332-2543.1000228
- Ali-Shtayeh M. S., Jamous R. M., Abu-Zaitoun S. Y., Akkawi R. J., Kalbouneh S. R., Bernstein N., Dudai N. Chemical profile and bioactive properties of the essential oil isolated from Clinopodium serpyllifolium (M. Bieb.) Kuntze growing in Palestine. Industrial Crops & Products 124 (2018) 617–625.
- Ali-Shtayeh M. S., Jamous R. M., Abu-Zaitoun S. Y., Akkawi R. J., Kalbouneh S. R., Dudai N., Bernstein N. Secondary treated effluent irrigation did not impact chemical composition, and enzyme inhibition activities of essential oils from Origanum syriacum var. syriacum. Industrial Crops & Products 111 (2018) pp. 775-786.
- Ali-Shtayeh M. S., Yaish S., Jamous R.M., Arda H., Husein E.I. (2015). Updating the epidemiology of dermatophyte infections in Palestine with special reference to concomitant dermatophytosis. Journal de Mycologie Médicale / Journal of Medical Mycology (2015) 25, 116—122.
- Ali-Shtayeh, M.S., Jamous, R.M., Shtaya, M.J., Mallah, O.B., Eid, I.S., Abu Zaitoun, S.Y. Morphological characterization of snake melon (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) populations from Palestine. Genet Resour Crop Evol (2017) 64: 7-22. doi:10.1007/s10722-015-0329-0
- Ali-Shtayeh M. S., R. M. Jamous, N. H. A. Alothman, M.H. Abu Baker, S. Abu Zaitoun, O. B. Y. Mallah (2015). Genotyping and antifungal susceptibility of Candida albicans strains from patients with vulvovaginal and cutaneous candidiasis in Palestine. African Journal of Microbiology Research 9(13):952-959
- Jamous R.M., Ali-Shtayeh M.S., Abu Zaitoun S.Y, Markovics A, Azaizeh H (2017): Effects of selected Palestinian plants on the in vitro exsheathment of the third stage larvae of gastrointestinal nematodes. BMC Veterinary Research 12/2017; 13(1)., DOI:10.1186/s12917-017-1237-7
- Jamous R.M., Abu Zaitoun S.Y, Akkawi R.J, Ali-Shtayeh M.S. 2018. Antiobesity and Antioxidant Potentials of Selected Palestinian Medicinal Plants. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Volume 2018, Article ID 8426752, 21 pages. DOI: 10.1155/2018/8426752