Jonathan Hira

Short description

Jonathan Hira, a Postdoctoral Researcher at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, is a passionate scientist whose work integrates marine bioprospecting and host-pathogen infectomics, focusing on rapid diagnostics through advanced technologies like microfluidics, flow cytometry, and next-generation sequencing (NGS). His innovative research has led to significant contributions, including the discovery of the novel pathogenic cold-water bacterial species Vibrio echinoideorum , identification of a new cellular source for an anticardiotoxic drug, and the development of a single-cell phenotypic method to predict the functional past and future of bacterial mother cells in individual antibiotic heteroresistant colonies. Jonathan is also dedicated to advancing laboratory automation using robotics and artificial intelligence, combining technical expertise with an interdisciplinary approach to drive cutting-edge solutions in microbial diagnostics and biotechnology.

Educational Background

Jonathan Hira holds a PhD in Natural Sciences (Marine Biotechnology) from UiT The Arctic University of Norway (2015–2019), where he specialized in host-pathogen infect-omics and marine-derived bioactive compounds. He earned an MSc in Molecular Medicine (Anti-cancer Drug Screening) from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) (2011–2013), focusing on anticancer drug development. Additionally, he completed an MSc in Biotechnology (Computational Biology) at North South University (NSU), Dhaka, Bangladesh (2008–2010), with an emphasis on bioinformatics and computational approaches in biotechnology.

Jonathan Hira is a certified professional in advanced biotechnology, data analysis, and higher education pedagogy. His certifications include Single Cell RNA-Seq Analysis from Edinburgh Genomics, University of Edinburgh (2024), Hands-on Data Analysis for Metabolic Profiling from Imperial College London (2023), R Programming AZ™: R For Data Science from Udemy (2019), and High Throughput Sequencing of Non-model Organisms from Nord University, Bodø, Norway (2016). Additionally, he completed a Foundation Course in University Pedagogy (200 hours) from UiT The Arctic University of Norway in 2024, earning formal recognition for Pedagogical Basic Competence in Higher Education. These credentials enhance his expertise in bioinformatics, metabolic profiling, high-throughput sequencing, and effective teaching methodologies, supporting his innovative contributions to microbial diagnostics and biotechnology research.

Grant Awarded

Hira has also been awarded one of the 1.2 million NOK grants for the BacPac (Bacteria Capturing Programmable Artificial Cell System) project, a collaborative effort between UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, and the Norwegian Center for Molecular Medicine (NCMM), Oslo. This project focuses on developing a confined protocell environment to capture and monitor single bacteria in real-time for antibiotic resistance and virulence profiling, where Hira contributes expertise in artificial cell synthesis and project management.

Publication

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2649-2296

Social Profile

www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-h-60592427