Hoda Eid is currently Associate Professor of Pharmacognosy at Beni-Suef University in Egypt. She earned her Bachelor of Pharmacy and her Masters of Pharmacognosy at Cairo University in Egypt and her PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Montreal in Canada, working with Prof. Pierre Haddad.
Her PhD research work was centered on the antidiabetic activity of Vaccinium vitis-idea (mountain cranberry), a medicinal plant of the pharmacopeia of the Eastern James Bay Cree in Canada. She was notably responsible for the successful identification of the active principles of the plant using bioassay-guided fractionation. This was the first such success for the CIHR Team in Aboriginal Antidiabetic Medicines. Her work helped to bridge the gap between traditional healers and modern medical practitioners.
After completing her PhD, she accepted a position as Assistant Professor at Beni-Suef University where she worked for 2 years before returning to Canada as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Montreal. During that time, she continued a close collaboration with Dr Haddad. This has led to 20 co-authored papers and to her promotion to Associate Professor in January 2018.
Her research interest lies in natural product-based drug discovery, new drug target identification using proteomic and metabolomic analyses and development of evidence based traditional medicine. She favors interdisciplinary approaches and has incorporated ethnobotany, pharmacology and phytochemistry in her research with current emphasis on plants having antidiabetic, anti-obesity and cosmetic applications.
Her fascination with the natural world continues to unfold. She keeps up to date with the latest findings on herbal medicine, attending seminars and conferences as well as looking to communicate and collaborate with other researchers in the natural health products field.
In formal education, she taught phytotherapy, medicinal plants and pharmacology at Beni-Suef University and at a naturopahic school in Montreal where she wrote core material for their professional training courses.