Rate My Professor Karl Hassan

Associate Professor Karl Hassan is a prominent researcher in Biological Sciences at the University of Newcastle, within the School of Science and College of Engineering, Science and Environment. He obtained his PhD from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Biotechnology (Honours) from the University of Wollongong. After completing research fellowships at Macquarie University and the University of Leeds, he joined the University of Newcastle in late 2017 as an ARC Future Fellow. He progressed to Associate Professor and serves as Associate Dean of Research (CESE). His career includes supervision of 15 PhD students and extensive international collaborations with researchers in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, France, and other countries.

Hassan's research group utilizes molecular microbiology, genomics, biochemistry, and synthetic biology to confront major global challenges. Key areas include antimicrobial drug resistance and virulence in hospital-acquired bacterial pathogens, developing technologies to identify novel resistance proteins such as new classes of multidrug efflux determinants, and collaborating with hospitals on infection control. Other focuses encompass synthetic biology for engineering microbes to produce fuels and polymers from renewable feedstocks, soil bacteria for crop protection and bioremediation via specialized metabolites, and membrane transport proteins for resistance and biotechnological applications. His Fields of Research are Genomics and transcriptomics (40%), Bacteriology (40%), and Biochemistry and cell biology not elsewhere classified (20%). Notable awards include the 2022 Australian Society for Microbiology Frank Fenner Award, 2020 Fellowship of the Australian Society for Microbiology, and ARC Future Fellowship (2019-2023). Key publications feature 'Lipidic drug delivery systems are responsive to the human microbiome' (2025, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science), 'Microbial solute transporters' (2019), 'A transcriptomic approach to identify novel drug efflux pumps in bacteria' (2018), 'The Role of Efflux Pumps in the Nosocomial Pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii' (2013), and 'Clostridium perfringens' (2011).