Behnam Abasht

Behnam Abasht is a Professor of Animal Genetics in the Department of Animal & Food Sciences at the University of Delaware, part of the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources. He joined the department in 2011 after a postdoctoral fellowship at Iowa State University and leadership roles in genomics at Perdue Farms. Dr. Abasht teaches courses including Principles of Animal and Plant Genetics (ANFS300) and Molecular Genetics (ANFS470/670).

Education:

• Postdoctoral Research, Iowa State University (2006-2008)
• PhD., Agrocampus Ouest / French National Institute for Agricultural Research, Rennes, France (2006)
• MSc., University of Tehran, Iran (1998)
• BSc., Urmia University, Iran (1995)

Dr. Abasht’s research focuses on degenerative muscle diseases in commercial broiler chickens, particularly Wooden Breast myopathy. Using transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq), histology, electron microscopy, and bioinformatics, his lab investigates genetic and molecular factors underlying muscle health and disease. The Avian Biology and Bioinformatics Lab also explores genetic regulation of myogenesis and adiposity, integrating spatial transcriptomics, metabolomics, and Big Data Analysis to decode the genetic basis of complex traits.

The lab’s work bridges computational and experimental approaches to understand phenotypic variation and regulatory mutations. Alumni from his lab have pursued careers at institutions like Harvard University, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and companies such as Pacific Biosciences and Pfizer. Research outcomes contribute to poultry health, genomics, and biotechnology advancements.