Moemen Abdalla
St. Catharines
Summary
Dynamic and results-oriented professional with over a decade of experience in sales, marketing, laboratory management, and research within the biotechnology and life sciences sectors. As the Director of Sales and Marketing, adeptly led a 30-member team to drive unprecedented sales growth exceeding $100M during the pandemic, strategically acquiring high-value customers and expanding market share. Concurrently, as the Clinical Laboratory Director, directed regulatory compliance efforts and spearheaded the establishment of Norgen's COVID-19 testing service, ensuring adherence to stringent standards and protocols. With a proven track record of developing and commercializing over 100 products and securing regulatory approvals, possesses a unique blend of scientific expertise and business acumen. Effective in fostering cross-functional collaboration, mentoring teams, and optimizing operational processes to achieve organizational objectives. A strategic thinker with a passion for innovation and a commitment to delivering high-quality solutions in alignment with industry best practices.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Lead Research Scientist
Norgen Biotek Corp
Thorold
01.2010 - 08.2023
- Developed over 100 products adhering to ISO 13485 standards for DNA/RNA/Protein/Exosome/Virus collection, preservation, and purification from diverse sample types like blood, plasma, serum, urine, and stool
- Managed multiple contract R&D and clinical trials for esteemed institutes including Brainstorm, FDA, Harvard University, Roswell Park, and Mount Sinai
- Led regulatory efforts securing CE-Marking and Health Canada approval for more than 50 products
- Oversaw research, development, and production operations while integrating diverse information sources into actionable reports
- Created experiment protocols based on scientific principles and authored technical papers and reports
- Identified areas for process improvement and implemented quality assurance measures
- Provided mentorship to junior researchers and authored manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals
- Ensured laboratory compliance with safety regulations and maintained meticulous records
- Presented research findings at meetings, conferences, and symposia
- Participated in grant proposal writing and stayed updated on field developments through literature review
- Led a team to develop new technologies and protocols and identified disease progression biomarkers via genomic analysis.
Clinical Laboratory Director
Norgen Biotek Corp
Thorold
06.2020 - 08.2023
- Recruited, trained, and supervised laboratory staff, ensuring adherence to proper techniques and safety protocols
- Led the regulatory team in implementing Norgen's asymptomatic saliva-based COVID-19 testing service following Ontario Ministry of Health License & ISO 15189 certification (OLA Accredited Laboratory)
- Directed a team of scientists and technicians in establishing the workflow for Norgen's saliva-based COVID-19 testing service
- Managed the submission of all regulatory documents required for compliance
- Developed and maintained laboratory protocols, policies, and procedures to ensure safety regulations compliance
- Implemented innovative strategies to enhance laboratory efficiency
- Organized and managed workflow for a team of over 10 technicians and scientists
- Provided direction in designing, developing, and implementing new laboratory processes
- Conducted research studies, analyzed data, and presented results to senior leadership teams
- Performed technical troubleshooting on lab equipment as necessary to maintain operational efficiency
- Ensured accurate record-keeping practices to comply with applicable laws
- Facilitated interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists to ensure project success.
Director of Sales and Marketing
Norgen Biotek Corp
Thorold
09.2019 - 08.2023
- Directed and managed a 30-member sales and marketing team handling diverse product portfolios in molecular Sample Collection and Preservation, Purification, and Detection of Nucleic Acids (RNA/DNA)
- Successfully drove sales growth exceeding $100M during the pandemic for molecular medical devices and nucleic acid purification products
- Orchestrated the acquisition of high-value customers, generating revenue of $10M+ during the COVID-19 pandemic for FDA-EUA or Health Canada authorized assays
- Monitored industry trends and competitive landscape to devise effective strategies for enhancing market share
- Provided strategic direction for digital marketing initiatives including SEO, SEM, email campaigns, and social media platforms
- Developed a comprehensive plan for tracking key performance indicators related to sales and e-marketing activities
- Optimized existing processes and developed new initiatives to drive revenue growth and customer loyalty
- Actively monitored customer feedback to identify areas for product and service improvement
- Implemented remarketing tactics to target previous visitors with relevant ads across the web
- Recommended modifications to products, packaging, and production processes to improve environmental sustainability
- Negotiated contracts with vendors and distributors to manage product distribution and establish global networks
- Led the organization of trade shows, industry events, and promotional activities to generate leads
- Evaluated current sales channels and explored new avenues for growth
- Directed successful marketing campaigns that increased brand awareness and customer loyalty
- Led the design of creative materials including brochures, flyers, banners, and websites
- Established processes for lead generation, customer onboarding, and retention programs
- Developed and maintained relationships with key clients to drive sales
- Coordinated with internal departments to align sales targets with operational budgets
- Directed budgeting processes related to advertising campaigns across all channels
- Established comprehensive training modules for new hires on company policies and procedures
- Designed and implemented targeted marketing strategies to drive sales
- Prepared presentations highlighting industry trends related to products and services
- Monitored inventory to prevent losses and adjusted as needed
- Led team meetings to discuss best practices in sales and marketing processes
- Developed effective pricing strategies for over 150 products
- Resolved customer complaints regarding sales and service
- Planned and directed staffing, training, and performance evaluations to develop sales and service programs
- Provided guidance and mentorship to junior-level staff members
- Determined price schedules and discount rates
- Represented the company at trade association meetings to promote products
- Managed relationships with several OEM partners, including Sigma Aldrich, Thermo Fisher, Lexogen, and IZON
- Performed all duties as a Senior Lead Research Scientist.
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Norgen Biotek Corp
Thorold
01.2009 - 12.2009
Education
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biotechnology -
Brock University
St. Catharines, ON01.2009
Master of Science in Biochemistry -
Alexandria University
Alexandria, EG08.2001
Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry -
Alexandria University
Alexandria, EG06.1998
Skills
- Strategic planning and implementation
- Project management
- Leadership and team management
- Recruitment and Team Development
- Compliance with regulations and standards
- Problem-Solving Proficiency
- Contract negotiation and management
- Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)
- Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)
- Research study design and publication
- Laboratory management and safety
- Stakeholder relationship management
- Process improvement and innovation
- Organizational Goal Development
Certification
- WHMIS: Occupational Health and Safety
- Implementing ISO 13485:2003
- MiSeq Training provided by Illumina, Inc.
- Member of Egyptian Clinical Chemistry Society
- Dale Carnegie Course: Effective Communication & Human Relations
- Dale Carnegie Course: Leadership Training for Managers
Languages
English
Arabic
Dob
10/11/76
Personal Information
- Citizenship: Canadian
- Gender: Male
- Marital Status: Married
Publications
- 13th International Symposium on Molecular Biology of Hematopoiesis (New York, USA, July 14-18, 2000)
- 1st International Symposium on Heme Oxygenase (New York, USA, July 14- 17, 2000)
- Molecular Biology Workshop of III International Congress of the African Societies of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (FASBMB), Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 11-13, 2000.
- 2nd International Congress of the African Societies of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (FASBMB), Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 14-16, 2000.
- 2nd International Conference on Heme Oxygenase (HO/CO) and Cellular Stress Response (Catania – Italy , 2002)
- 50th Scientific Congress “International Meeting” of the Egyptian Society of Clinical Chemistry, Cairo, Egypt, December 17-19, 2002. Laboratory and Genomic Medicine
- BioVision Alexandria Conference, Alexandria, Egypt, April 3-7, 2004
- Bassiouny, AR, Al-Demerdash, M, Kandeel, K, and El Shazly, MS. Th1/Th2 cytokine profile and transforming growth factor beta predict Liver damage in chronic hepatitis C Egyptian patients. Abstract # 9581, FASEB Meeting, Washington, DC April 17-21, 2004.
- M. Abdalla, Y. Haj-Ahmad. Urinary proteomic and Genomic profile from Hepatitis C virus, Hepatitis B virus and hepatocellular carcinoma patients. HUPO 5th Annual World Congress (October 28 - November 1, 2006, Long Beach, CA, USA).
- M. Abdalla, Y. Haj-Ahmad. Genomic Profiling of Hepatitis B Virus and Hepatitis C Virus from 1ml of Urine. ASM 107th General Meeting (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, from May 21 through May 25, 2007 in Toronto, ON, Canada).
- Y. Haj-Ahmad, M. Abdalla. Urine Proteomic Pattern Analysis for early Hepatitis and Hepatitis-related liver cancer detection. ASM 107th General Meeting (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, from May 21 through May 25, 2007 in Toronto, ON, Canada).
- M. Abdalla, S. Geng, B. Lam and Y. Haj-Ahmad. Efficient Preservation and Purification of Urinary Proteins. The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), 47th Annual Meeting. December 1-5, 2007, Washington D.C, USA.
- M. Abdalla, S. Geng, B. Lam and Y. Haj-Ahmad. Concurrent RNA-DNA-protein Isolation from Bodily Fluids Using Silicon Carbide. The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), 47th Annual Meeting. December 1-5, 2007, Washington D.C, USA.
- M. Abdalla and Y. Haj-Ahmad. The Urinary Genomic and Proteomic Profiling of Hepatocellular Carcinoma patients Infected with Hepatitis C Virus. American Society for Microbiology, 108th General Meeting. June 1-5, 2008, Boston, MA, USA.
- The Biology of RNA Silencing. April 25-30, 2009, Victoria, Canada.
- Alex Haj-Ahmad, Moemen Abdalla and Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Proteomic Profiling of Prostate Cancer and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia from Urine. HUPO 8th Annual World Congress. September 26-30, 2009, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Moemen Abdalla, Bernard Lam, Nezar Rghei and Y. Haj-Ahmad. Effect of RNA Isolation Methods on microRNA Quantity and Quality in plasma. Seventh Annual microRNA in Human Disease and Development. March 28-30, 2011, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Abdalla M. A. K and Haj-Ahmad, Y. (2012). Promising Candidate Urinary MicroRNA Biomarkers for the Early Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma among High-Risk Hepatitis C Virus Egyptian Patients. J. Cancer 3, 19-31.
- Simkin, M., Abdalla, M., El-Mogy, M. and Haj-Ahmad Y. (2012). Differences in the quantity of DNA found in the urine and saliva of smokers versus nonsmokers: implications for the timing of epigenetic events. Epigenomics 4(3), 343-352.
- Abdalla M. A. K and Haj-Ahmad, Y. (2012). Promising Urinary Protein Biomarkers for the Early Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma among High-Risk Hepatitis C Virus Egyptian Patients. J. Cancer 3, 390-403.
- Zamakhshari, H., Abdalla M. A. K. and Haj-Ahmad. Early Detection of Lung Cancer using microRNA. (Presented in Tri Conference, Feb 2012)
- Lam, B., Haj-Ahmad, T., Misic, V., Abdalla, M., El-Mogy, M., Kim, W., Rghei, N. and Haj-Ahmad, Y. (2013). Effect of microRNA Content on RNA Purification Efficiency from Biological and Clinical Specimens using Various Isolation Procedures. Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference, February 11-15, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Lam, B., Haj-Ahmad, T., Misic, V., Abdalla, M., El-Mogy, M., Kim, W., Rghei, N. and Haj-Ahmad, Y. (2013). Variation Between the Purification Efficiency of microRNA with Different GC Content in Biological and Clinical Specimens. microRNA - Targets and Tools for Therapeutic Development, March 4-5, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Abdalla, MA., Haj- Ahmad, T. and Haj-Ahmad, Y. (2013). Comparative Study on the Isolation of Exosomal RNA from Urine Using Different Methods. microRNA - Targets and Tools for Therapeutic Development, March 4-5, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Abdalla, MA., Haj- Ahmad, T., Kim, W., Simkin, M., and Haj-Ahmad, Y. (2013). Comparative Study on the Isolation of Exosomal RNA from Plasma Using Different Methods. microRNA - Targets and Tools for Therapeutic Development, March 4-5, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Mohamed El-Mogy, Moemen Abdalla, Shereen N. Mahmoud, Taha Alex Haj-Ahmad, Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Non-invasive, Rapid Detection of Human Hepatitis B Virus from Saliva Samples. Next Generation Dx Summit (Washington, DC). August 20-22, 2013
- Moemen AK Abdalla, Mohamed El-Mogy, Robert DiPietro, Taha Alex Haj-Ahmad, Yousef Haj-Ahmad. An Efficient Method for Concentrating Chlamydia trachomatis from Urine Using Silicon Carbide in Resource Limited Areas. Next Generation Dx Summit (Washington, DC). August 20-22, 2013
- Moemen Abdalla, Taha Haj- Ahmad and Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Comparative Study on the Isolation of Exosomal RNA from Urine Using Different Methods. Exosome and Circulating Biomarkers (San Diego, CA). September 12-13, 2013.
- Bernard Lam, Moemen Abdalla, Nezar Rghei and Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Isolation of High Quality RNA with Complete Size Diversity from a Single Mammalian Cell. Exosome and Circulating Biomarkers (San Diego, CA). September 12-13, 2013.
- Taha Haj-Ahmad, Lila Haj-Ahmad, Mohamed El-Mogy, Moemen Abdalla, Won-Sik Kim, Bernard Lam, Nezar Rghei, Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Sensitivity of DNA Extraction Methods from Different Bodily Fluid for Human Identification. (ISHI) International Symposium on Human Identification (Atlanta, Georgia) October 7-10, 2013
- Moemen AK Abdalla, Mohamed El-Mogy, Catarina Moreira, Robert DiPietro, Taha Alex Haj-Ahmad, Yousef Haj-Ahmad. The effect of Long-Term Frozen Storage of Urine Samples on the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in comparison to Preserved - Room temperature Urine Samples. (ASHG) American Society of Human Genetics (Boston MA) October 22-26, 2013.
- Moemen AK Abdalla, Mohamed El-Mogy, Laura Graziano, Taha Alex Haj-Ahmad, Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Efficient Preservation and Purification of Blood Genomic DNA at Ambient Temperature. American Society for Cell Biology, New orleans, Louisiana; 12/2013.
- Haj-Ahmad TA, Abdalla MA, Haj-Ahmad Y. (2014). Potential Urinary miRNA Biomarker Candidates for the Accurate Detection of Prostate Cancer among Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Patients. J. Cancer 5(3), 182-191.
- Haj-Ahmad TA, Abdalla MA, Haj-Ahmad Y. (2014). Potential Urinary Protein Biomarker Candidates for the Accurate Detection of Prostate Cancer among Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Patients. J. Cancer 5(2), 103-114.
- Moemen AK Abdalla, Vanja Misic, Laura Graziano, Bernard Lam, Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Complete Next-Generation Gene Expression Workflow for microRNAs from Bodily Fluids, Extracellular Vesicles and Small Sample Input - Sample Preservation, RNA Extraction, Amplification and Detection. Molecular Med TriCon 2015, San Francisco; 02/2015.
- Moemen AK Abdalla, Taha Alex Haj-Ahmad, Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Urinary miR-1825 and miR-484: An Oncogene and a Tumor- Suppressor Gene among Prostate Cancer patients. American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2015, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 04/2015.
- Basma M Abbas, Moemen AK Abdalla, Mohammed El-Mogy, Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Oncolytic adenovirus Ad5dlE1b replication efficiency is dependent on p53 mutation type in cancer cells. American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2015, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 04/2015.
- Attending AACR Annual Meeting 2016 (American Association for Cancer Research), April 16 - 20, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Attending AAI Annual Meeting (Immunology 2016), May 13 - 17, Washington State Convention Center, Seattle, Washington
- Mohamed A. El-Mogy, Moemen A.K. Abdalla, Vanja Misic, Yousef Haj-Ahmad, Effect of adenovirus infection on transgene expression under the adenoviral MLP/TPL and the CMVie promoter/enhancer in CHO cells, In Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Volume 15, Issue 1, 2017, Pages 211-217, ISSN 1687-157X
- Moemen Abdalla, Taha Haj- Ahmad, Adnan Igdoura and Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Assessing the Effect of Simulated Shipping on Cell-Free DNA in Blood Collected in Norgen, Streck and EDTA Tubes. Next Generation Dx Summit (Washington, DC). August 15-17, 2017
- Moemen Abdalla, Taha Haj- Ahmad, Adnan Igdoura and Yousef Haj-Ahmad. Norgen’s cf-DNA Preservative Tube Preserves & Prevents the Contamination of Circulating Cell-Free DNA by Cellular Genomic DNA during Shipping as compared to other cf-DNA Preservative Tubes. Next Generation Dx Summit (Washington, DC). August 15-17, 2017.
- Jackson, L., et al. "Development and Analytic Validation of an Automated Circulating RNA Extraction System Using a Laboratory Validated ddPCR Test Process." JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS. Vol. 19. No. 6. 360 PARK AVE SOUTH, NEW YORK, NY 10010-1710 USA: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC, 2017.
- Armstrong, David A., et al. "Pre-analytical handling conditions and small RNA recovery from urine for miRNA profiling." The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics 20.5 (2018): 565-571.
- Armstrong, David A., et al. "Extracellular vesicles from Pseudomonas aeruginosa suppress MHC-related molecules in human lung macrophages." Immunohorizons 4.8 (2020): 508-519.
Timeline
Clinical Laboratory Director
Norgen Biotek Corp
06.2020 - 08.2023
Director of Sales and Marketing
Norgen Biotek Corp
09.2019 - 08.2023
Senior Lead Research Scientist
Norgen Biotek Corp
01.2010 - 08.2023
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Norgen Biotek Corp
01.2009 - 12.2009
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biotechnology -
Brock University
Master of Science in Biochemistry -
Alexandria University
Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry -
Alexandria University