Hassan obtained his B.Sc. in premedical-chemistry from the American University of Beirut in 2016. Then, he pursued his Ph.D. in chemistry with Prof. Hanadi Sleiman at McGill University. His Ph.D. work was focused on the biomedical applications DNA nanocarriers, specifically on designing and testing DNA-based nanocarriers for the delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics with characteristics that enable them to move faster into clinical trials (cost effective, biocompatible, specificity, stability etc.). His work resulted in producing e sequence-controlled nucleic acid-polymer conjugates that assemble into spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) with stimuli responsive activation, as well as chemically-modified SNAs that show promising results of efficacy without any transfection agents.

Hassan is currently a Postdoctoral Associate in the lab of Prof. Anastasia Khvorova at the RNA Therapeutics Institute – UMass Chan Medical School. His research focuses on improving the extra-hepatic delivery of siRNA therapeutics using self-assembled nucleic acid particles and specific protein-binding conjugates.