Prof. Pascal Saikaly

Principal Investigator

Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering

Location:

B4/L4-4237

Social Profile:

Biography

Prof. Pascal E. Saikaly is a Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). He received his B.Sc. in Biology and M.Sc. in Environmental Technology from the American University of Beirut. He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 2005 and continued his training as a postdoctoral fellow (2005-2007) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University.

After joining KAUST in 2010 he began his research quest to develop sustainable environmental biotechnologies that can harness the metabolic potential of microbial communities to recover valuable resources (e.g., reclaimed water for reuse, energy, nutrients, biopolymers) from wastewater. He translates novel wastewater treatment biotechnologies from bench scale to full scale. These biotechnologies include a patented technology for a decentralized wastewater recycling plant that is currently being demonstrated at full scale to help address sanitation and water scarcity issues in Saudi Arabia.

Prof. Saikaly's research is acknowledged globally, and he is a regular keynote speaker at international conferences. He has authored/co-authored over 130 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and is one of the Editors of Water Research and Associate Editors of Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology. He was selected as the 2024 International Honorary Member from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

Selected Publications

  • Pedireddy, S., Jimenez-Sandoval, R. J., Ravva, M. K., Nayak, C., Anjum, D. H., Jha, S. N., Katuri, K. P., & Saikaly, P. E. (2021). Harnessing the extracellular electron transfer capability of Geobacter sulfurreducens for ambient synthesis of stable bifunctional single-atom electrocatalyst for water splitting. Advanced Functional Materials. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202010916
  • Sapireddy, V., Katuri, K. P., Al, M., & Saikaly, P. E. (2021). Competition of two highly specialized and efficient acetoclastic electroactive bacteria for acetate in biofilm anode of microbial electrolysis cell. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 7, 47. DOI: 10.1038/s41522-021-00218-3
  • Ali, M., Shaw, D. R., Albertsen, M., & Saikaly, P. E. (2020). Comparative genome-centric analysis of freshwater and marine anammox cultures suggests functional redundancy in nitrogen removal processes. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, 1637.
  • Shaw, D. R., Ali, M., Katuri, K. P., Gralnick, J. A., Reimann, J., Mesman, R., van Nitrifik, L., Jetten, M. S. M., & Saikaly, P. E. (2020). Extracellular electron transfer-dependent anaerobic oxidation of ammonium by anammox bacteria. Nature Communications, 11, 2058. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16016-y
  • Ali, M., Shaw, D. R., & Saikaly, P. E. (2020). Application of an enrichment culture of the anammox bacterium "Ca. Scalindua sp. AMX11" for nitrogen removal under moderate salinity and in the presence of organic carbon. Water Research, 170, 115345.
  • Ali, M., Wang, Z., Salam, K. W., Hari, H. R., Pronk, M., van Loosdrecht, M. C. M., & Saikaly, P. E. (2019). Importance of species sorting and immigration on the bacterial assembly of different-sized aggregates in a full-scale aerobic granular sludge plant. Environmental Science and Technology, 53, 8291-8301.
  • Wang, Z., van Loosdrecht, M. C. M., & Saikaly, P. E. (2017). Gradual adaptation to salt and dissolved oxygen: strategies to minimize adverse effect of salinity on aerobic granular sludge. Water Research, 124, 702-712.
  • Katuri, K. P., Bettahalli, N. M. S., Wang, X., Matar, G., Chisca, S., Nunes, S. P., & Saikaly, P. E. (2016). A Microfiltration Polymer-Based Hollow-Fiber Cathode as a Promising Advanced Material for Simultaneous Recovery of Energy and Water. Advanced Materials, 28, 9504-9511.
  • Bagchi, S., Lamendella, R., Strutt, S., van Loosdrecht, M. C. M., & Saikaly, P. E. (2016). Metatranscriptomics reveals the molecular mechanism of large granule formation in granular anammox reactor. Scientific Reports, 6, 28327.
  • Katuri, K., Werner, C. M., Sandoval, R. J., Chen, W., Logan, B. E., Lai, Z., Amy, G. L., & Saikaly, P. E. (2014). A novel anaerobic electrochemical membrane bioreactor (AnEMBR) with conductive hollow-fiber membrane for treatment of low-organic strength solutions. Environmental Science and Technology, 48, 12833-12841.

Education

  • Ph.D., Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, USA, 2005
  • M.S., Environmental Technology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, 2001
  • B.S., Biology, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, 1997

Professional Profile

  • 2021-Present: Professor, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
  • 2015-2021: Associate Professor, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
  • 2010-2015: Assistant Professor, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
  • 2008-2010: Assistant Professor, American University of Beirut, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lebanon
  • 2005-2007: Postdoctoral Research Associate, North Carolina State University, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, USA
  • 2005: Visiting Scholar, Microbial Diversity Course, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
  • 2001-2005: Graduate Research Assistant, University of Cincinnati, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, USA
  • 1997-2001: Graduate Research Assistant, American University of Beirut, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Scientific and Professional Membership

  • ​International Society for Microbial Electrochemistry and Technology (ISMET)
  • International Water ​Association (IWA)
  • Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP)​

Awards

  • International Society for Microbial Electrochemistry and Technology Best Scientific Discovery Award (with Dario Rangel Shaw). This award was based on the article on electro-anammox published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, 2020
  • Third annual TAQADAM Showcase ‘People’s Choice Award’ (with Jiajie Xu, Bin Bian, Sara Aleid and Yara Aldrees). The project entitled 'Transforming food waste into high-value products through carbon-CPU'. The project aims to utilize a next-generation biotechnology through carbon-CPU to transform food waste into useful fatty acids needed as livestock nutrients. This work has been highlighted in Arab News (https://www.arabnews.com/node/1615941/saudi-arabia), 2019
  • Best Poster Presentation Prize (with Manal Al Qahtani) at the 3rd Asia-Pacific Meeting of the International Society for Microbial Electrochemistry and Technology (AP-ISMET), in Busan, Korea. Her presentation was entitled “A novel electrically conductive and porous hollow fiber cathode design for recycling CO2 to CH4 through electromethanogenesis”, 2016
  • Second Prize Best Presentation Award (with Gerald Matar) at the 250th ACS National Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, division of Environmental Chemistry in the ASC symposium. His presentation was entitled “Initiation and succession of biofouling communities on hydrophobic and hydrophilic membrane surfaces in a submerged membrane bioreactor”, 2015
  • International Society for Microbial Electrochemistry and Technology Innovation Award for Best Technological Advancement for 2013 (with Dr. Krishna Katuri and Dr. Lilian Malaeb). This award was based on our article on MFC-MBR published in the prestigious journal Environmental Science and Technology, 2014

KAUST Affiliations

Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE)​

Research Interests Keywords

wastewater treatment and reuse microbial electrochemistry Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process Aerobic Granular Sludge water reuse Resource recovery Electromicrobiology microbial chain elongation