Ihab is a postdoctoral researcher at the Engineered Living Materials (ELM) Laboratory at InnoRenew CoE.

He studied Life and Earth Sciences at the Lebanese University, Faculty of Sciences in Beirut, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 2018. During the first year of his Master’s studies, he specialized in Animal Biology at the same faculty. He then pursued a second year of Master’s studies in Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology at the Faculty of Public Health at the Lebanese University in Tripoli. He completed his degree in 2020 with a research internship at the Gut Microbiology Laboratory at the University of Ottawa, Canada. There, he analyzed the adhesion capacity of Lactobacillus strains to human mucin extracted from fecal samples, as well as their ability to secrete GABA. In 2021, Ihab received a full scholarship to undertake a PhD in Infectious Diseases at IHU Méditerranée Infection and Aix-Marseille University in Marseille, France. His doctoral research focused on methanogenic archaea and their interactions with phages in the human body. He successfully defended his PhD in November 2024.

Since May 2025, Ihab has been part of the InnoRenew CoE team, contributing to the ARCHI-SKIN and REMEDY projects. His current work focuses on designing living coating systems for building materials, combining microbiology with material science.

In his free time, Ihab enjoys running, cycling, and swimming.