Manwal Harb

CEO @ MusiQ Bio
Having some fun and getting things done.

[Manwal Harb @ManwalHarb]

Update: After defending my Ph.D. last year, I finally walked at commencement this month and was hooded by my advisor, @JerzySzablowski , who also recently celebrated his well-deserved tenure promotion!

With that, my “super alright” time at Rice University comes to a close. 1/4

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

qPCR allowed us to measure transcripts, but just once, destructively, and only in post-mortem tissues. Here, we show we can record transcript level history in vivo and recover this information with a blood test to make a "noninvasive qPCR". https://t.co/fe6yjsrdGr

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

Tenure.

Deeply grateful to the students, postdocs, mentors, collaborators, and colleagues who made this possible. The next chapter will expand the lab towards a couple of new directions. The first grant for one of them just went out this morning :).

[Manwal Harb @ManwalHarb]

As for what’s next, I’m now serving as CEO of MusiQ Bio (https://t.co/XLXKrsnw4Z), a preclinical-stage biotech company using sound science to deliver drugs past biological barriers. Excited to share more soon! 4/4

[Manwal Harb @ManwalHarb]

Update: After defending my Ph.D. last year, I finally walked at commencement this month and was hooded by my advisor, @JerzySzablowski , who also recently celebrated his well-deserved tenure promotion!

With that, my “super alright” time at Rice University comes to a close. 1/4

[Manwal Harb @ManwalHarb]

To adapt a saying from a wise man, “projects come and go, but my people stay eternal.” I’ve been fortunate enough to work alongside incredible lab members and peers, both current and past, and I’m confident there are more amazing times ahead for all of us. 3/4

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

Congrats Dr @ManwalHarb, our lab's 3rd Ph.D. graduate. Dr. Harb defended last year, and joined us for the commencement. Since then he co-founded a focused ultrasound company https://t.co/ySOiLslPet where he is a CEO. I am told to watch for exciting news about this newco soon 👀

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

Congrats to @ManwalHarb and the rest of the team. Our paper on targeting spatially-defined projections with AAV9.retro with focused ultrasound is now published. We quantified transduction and found that ultrasound can match efficiency of invasive delivery

https://t.co/Rlh2UABlE8

[Shirin Nouraein @Shinouraein]

Excited to share my recent work on erasable synthetic serum markers-engineered RMAs with a controllable half-life to reduce background noise and enable sensitive, high-temporal-resolution monitoring of brain gene expression, all with a simple blood test!🧠🩸

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

Usually serum markers are detected as they are - often hard to detect, long half-life, or with high background that reduces temporal resolution. What if we could modify the markers in vivo so they can better match our needs? Introducing this concept with erasable serum markers.

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

Dr. Harb's projects that he led or contributed are listed below:
https://t.co/E2SsIPhEnc
https://t.co/pUisE5gesh
https://t.co/ngDGr88YSW
https://t.co/aQZsxcGBMk
https://t.co/jVlRdVIIdn

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

PhD #3 - Dr. Manwal Harb who helped to develop the first engineered AAV for focused ultrasound delivery, evaluated a retrograde-tracing AAV9 for noninvasive targeting of neuronal projections, and contributed to other projects. He will move on to be a CEO of a stealth startup.

[Manwal Harb @ManwalHarb]

Excited to talk about how we used a retrograde-tracing viral vector for noninvasive transduction of neuronal projections at my upcoming defense!

Grateful for the support of my lab mate @Shinouraein and my advisor @JerzySzablowski.

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

What is the next frontier in brain therapy? Small molecules act everywhere; our work targets brain regions with mm precision. Next frontier? Targeting microscale - neuronal connections, ensembles. Here, we test AAV9.retro for noninvasive transduction of neuronal projections.

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

A new Ph.D from our lab! Congrats to Dr. Joon Pyung Seo. Dr. Seo established REMIS for measuring gene expression in the brain with spatial precision, contributed to the developing site-specific brain therapeutics, and enabled a clinical trial through his data. Links in comments

[Manwal Harb @ManwalHarb]

Awesome talks happening at the @Rice_BIOE retreat, especially from my lab colleague, Dr. Sho Watanabe @alfort_123

[Rice University Bioengineering @Rice_BIOE]

Sho Watanabe of the @JerzySzablowski Lab presents research on “Noninvasive ‘qPCR’ - Measurement of Deep Tissue Transfription with a Blood Test” at the 2025 retreat!

[Rice University Bioengineering @Rice_BIOE]

Sho Watanabe of the @JerzySzablowski Lab presents research on “Noninvasive ‘qPCR’ - Measurement of Deep Tissue Transfription with a Blood Test” at the 2025 retreat!

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

We are starting our
@ARIA_research
Precision Neurotechnologies project and have two postdoc positions in neuroscience and bioengineering. This funding is independent of US government. Jobs: https://t.co/7XfnRm7tHG… More info: https://t.co/KpB6EKLuhI -- please RT --

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

We have two open postdoc positions, focused on molecular engineering, viral vector development, and a large animal focused ultrasound. It's a 4-year long, UK gov funded study.

We will be looking at the candidates in mid-late February. please RT.

https://t.co/7XfnRm81xe

[Jerzy Szablowski @JerzySzablowski]

Our outgoing postdoc @ZhiminHuang15 starts his lab @PittNeurosurg January 1st, but already got a @PhRMA foundation Faculty Starter Grant to develop site-specific brain therapeutics. I'd bet my money on this being just the first of many awards.

https://t.co/F2buRTowVM

[Sho Watanabe @alfort_123]

Our preprint is out! We developed a new technology that enables noninvasive monitoring of mRNA expression. Imagine measuring the mRNA expression as easy as qPCR, but in living animals - it’s now a reality.
https://t.co/bxpW3Fevcs