Professor Matar’s research interests include: 1) Molecular mechanisms of resistance to antimicrobial agents in pathogenic bacteria, namely methicillin resistance in S. aureus, macrolide resistance in S. pneumoniae, carbapenem and colistin resistance in ESBL and non-ESBL producing Enterobacteriaceae and in Acinetobacter baumanni, 2) Assessment of the link between heavy metals on antimicrobial resistance in in Acinetobacter baumanni from wounds of patients in war zones, 3) Combating antimicrobial resistance using a) antimicrobial combination therapy with or without inhibitors and b) natural products, with special focus on infections caused by carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae harboring various carbapenemase and / or colistin encoding genes, 4) Potential Treatment with antibacterial agents singly or in combination of E. coli O157:H7 and E. coli O104:H4 infections in a mouse model, 5) Genetic basis of biofilm production in P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii isolated from patients with nosocomial infections and potential inhibition of biofilm formation by antifungal agents in in vitro and in vivo studies, 6) Expression levels of virulence factors produced by pathogenic bacterial agents in relation to disease production, 7) Molecular epidemiology of foodborne diseases and nosocomial infections, 8) Molecular characterization of Listeria monocyogenes and Campylobacter from food items.
