Maha Farhat

Maha Farhat is the Gilbert S. Omenn Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, affiliated with the Biomedical Informatics Department. She holds an MD from McGill University and an MSc in Biostatistics from Harvard Chan School. Her research focuses on genomic analysis of infectious disease pathogens, particularly Mycobacterium tuberculosis, aiming to improve diagnostics and surveillance in resource-limited settings. Dr. Farhat leads several NIH-funded projects, including studies on antibiotic resistance diagnostics and TB transmission dynamics. She also serves as Associate Director of the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics (BIG) PhD Track.

Her work spans computational methods development, field studies, and clinical translation. Recent grants include an RNA nanosensor project for TB antibiotic resistance detection and a study on human adaptation and transmission of TB genetic lineages. Farhat collaborates widely, with over 90 publications in journals like Nature Communications, Cell Host & Microbe, and Science Translational Medicine.

Research interests emphasize evolutionary genetics, microbial genomics, and AI-driven diagnostics. Her lab develops tools for interpreting pathogen genomic data and improving clinical decision-making. Farhat's interdisciplinary approach bridges computational methods with clinical impact, addressing global health challenges in tuberculosis and post-acute sequelae of infectious diseases.