Professor, Department of Physics at Shamoon College of Engineering (SCE), Israel.
Prof. Dr. Ahmad Salman is a Full Professor of Physics affiliated with both the Preacademic Unit at Ben-Gurion University and Shamoon College of Engineering (SCE) in Israel. He specializes in the intersection of biomedical spectroscopy and artificial intelligence, with a key focus on developing label-free diagnostic techniques for infectious diseases. Over the years, Prof. Salman has published 63 peer-reviewed articles and two book chapters, alongside 13 conference proceedings. His research presentations include over 90 contributions to national and international conferences, including 15 invited lectures. He has served as principal investigator on numerous national and institutional research grants totaling over 3.27 million NIS. Prof. Salman leads interdisciplinary collaborations with experts in physics, biology, engineering, and computer science, aiming to enhance diagnostic accuracy through spectroscopic technologies and machine learning algorithms. His notable achievements include the development of IR-based diagnostic tools to rapidly distinguish bacterial and viral infections, even in complex clinical samples such as blood and urine. With a background in physics and a vision for translational innovation, Prof. Salman remains at the forefront of research integrating vibrational spectroscopy, infrared microscopy, and AI for medical applications. He also holds a patent and has received multiple academic honors, including the prestigious Ma’of Fellowship and awards for research excellence.
Publication Profile
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Education
Prof. Ahmad Salman completed his undergraduate through doctoral education in Physics at Ben-Gurion University. He earned his B.Sc. in 1990, M.Sc. in 1994, and Ph.D. in 2003, all from the Department of Physics. His doctoral work was rooted in applied physics with a growing focus on biomedical applications. To further refine his expertise, he pursued a postdoctoral fellowship (2003–2004) in Biomedical Spectroscopy under the mentorship of Prof. Shaul Mordechai at Ben-Gurion University. This postdoctoral research solidified his transition into the field of biomedical diagnostics using spectroscopy and laid the foundation for his future interdisciplinary work in biosensors, diagnostics, and machine learning integration. This strong academic foundation in both theoretical and applied physics, combined with translational biomedical research, uniquely positioned Prof. Salman to pursue innovative projects at the interface of physical sciences and clinical diagnostics. His educational trajectory reflects a consistent and progressive focus on using physical tools—particularly spectroscopy—to solve real-world medical challenges.
Professional Experience
Prof. Ahmad Salman began his academic career as a Lecturer at both Ben-Gurion University and Shamoon College of Engineering (SCE) in 2003. Over the years, he advanced through academic ranks, becoming Senior Lecturer (2010–2019), Associate Professor (2019–2025), and achieving Full Professor status in 2025. His roles span both research and teaching, with extensive contributions to curriculum development and laboratory instruction. Between 2003 and 2005, he served as the Teaching Lab Director in the Department of Physics at Ben-Gurion University. In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities, Prof. Salman has played an important role in academic administration and research development. He has supervised multiple graduate students, including two postdoctoral fellows, three Ph.D. candidates, and five M.Sc. students. He has also reviewed grant proposals for national and international agencies, including the Israeli Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). His institutional affiliations have remained stable, reflecting his long-standing commitment to higher education and collaborative research within Israel’s scientific community. With over two decades of teaching and mentoring experience, Prof. Salman continues to lead advanced research programs in biomedical spectroscopy and diagnostic technologies.
Research Interest
Prof. Salman’s research is focused on the development of advanced diagnostic platforms that merge infrared (IR) spectroscopy, vibrational analysis, and machine learning for rapid identification of pathogens. His work primarily targets real-time, label-free detection of bacterial, viral, and fungal infections—with special emphasis on sepsis, antibiotic resistance, and blood profiling. A central theme in his research is the use of infrared microscopy in tandem with machine learning algorithms to rapidly determine bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics directly from clinical samples, such as urine or blood, within under an hour. His projects also explore immune response profiling for distinguishing between infectious diseases and malignancy-related immune markers. Prof. Salman collaborates with multidisciplinary teams to develop data-rich spectral libraries that feed into deep learning models, aiming to improve the speed and accuracy of diagnostics. He is currently expanding his focus to include deep neural networks and big data integration to optimize clinical workflows in hospital laboratories. The overarching goal of his research is to translate complex spectroscopic signatures into accessible, fast, and accurate diagnostic tools for real-world medical application—bridging the gap between physics-based analysis and clinical decision-making.
Research Skills
Prof. Salman possesses a highly interdisciplinary research skillset that bridges experimental physics, biomedical engineering, and computational modeling. He has extensive expertise in infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy, vibrational spectral analysis, and fluorescence spectroscopy. His proficiency includes designing and implementing spectroscopic experiments for clinical diagnostics, particularly for analyzing blood, urine, and cell samples. In addition to laboratory-based techniques, he is skilled in advanced statistical methods, machine learning, and multivariate analysis, including principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and deep learning approaches. He frequently collaborates with computer scientists to develop classification algorithms for disease detection, using spectral datasets as training input. Prof. Salman also has strong experience in spectral data preprocessing, signal denoising, and feature extraction, which are essential for accurate diagnostic modeling. His knowledge of clinical sample handling, biosafety protocols, and medical ethics ensures that his research aligns with translational and regulatory standards. He applies these skills in multidisciplinary environments, successfully securing research grants and leading collaborative projects that unite physics, biology, and artificial intelligence to address unmet medical needs.
Awards and Honors
Prof. Salman has received multiple awards recognizing his academic excellence, research leadership, and educational contributions. He was a recipient of the prestigious Ma’of Fellowship, an Israeli government initiative supporting promising Arab researchers in academia. At Shamoon College of Engineering (SCE), he was twice honored as the Leading Researcher, a distinction awarded for outstanding achievements in scientific output and innovation. He has also been recognized as a Distinguished Lecturer, acknowledging his exceptional teaching contributions and student mentorship. His research has been supported by competitive external and internal funding, totaling more than 3.27 million NIS. These accolades reflect not only his strong scholarly output, with 63 peer-reviewed publications, but also his commitment to translating research into practical applications in medical diagnostics. In addition, he has earned respect from national and international funding agencies, having served as a grant reviewer for the Israeli Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). His growing reputation in the biomedical and physical sciences is further underscored by invited lectures, active supervision of Ph.D. and M.Sc. students, and successful interdisciplinary research collaborations.
Author Metrics
Name: Prof. Dr. Ahmad Salman
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Total Citations: 2,197
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h-index: 27
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i10-index: 51
These metrics reflect Prof. Salman’s impactful contributions to the scientific community, particularly in the fields of biomedical spectroscopy, infrared diagnostics, and machine learning applications in medical research. His h-index of 27 indicates that at least 27 of his publications have received 27 or more citations, demonstrating both the productivity and scholarly influence of his work.
Publications Top Notes
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Diagnostic potential of Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy and advanced computational methods in colon cancer patients
Authors: S. Argov, J. Ramesh, A. Salman, I. Sinelnikov, J. Goldstein, H. Guterman, S. Mordechai
Journal: Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 7, Issue 2, pp. 248–254
Year: 2002
Citations: 224
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FTIR spectroscopy for detection and identification of fungal phytopathogenes
Authors: A. Salman, L. Tsror, A. Pomerantz, R. Moreh, S. Mordechai, M. Huleihel
Journal: Journal of Spectroscopy, Vol. 24, Issues 3–4, pp. 261–267
Year: 2010
Citations: 132
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Novel spectral method for the study of viral carcinogenesis in vitro
Authors: M. Huleihel, A. Salman, V. Erukhimovitch, J. Ramesh, Z. Hammody, S. Mordechai
Journal: Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Methods, Vol. 50, Issues 2–3, pp. 111–121
Year: 2002
Citations: 108
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Inflammatory bowel diseases as an intermediate stage between normal and cancer: A FTIR‐microspectroscopy approach
Authors: S. Argov, R.K. Sahu, E. Bernshtain, A. Salman, G. Shohat, U. Zelig, S. Mordechai
Journal: Biopolymers: Original Research on Biomolecules, Vol. 75, Issue 5, pp. 384–392
Year: 2004
Citations: 101
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Using infrared spectroscopy and multivariate analysis to detect antibiotics’ resistant Escherichia coli bacteria
Authors: U. Sharaha, E. Rodriguez-Diaz, K. Riesenberg, I.J. Bigio, M. Huleihel, A. Salman
Journal: Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 89, Issue 17, pp. 8782–8790
Year: 2017
Citations: 93
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FTIR spectroscopic method for detection of cells infected with herpes viruses
Authors: A. Salman, V. Erukhimovitch, M. Talyshinsky, M. Huleihil, M. Huleihel
Journal: Biopolymers: Original Research on Biomolecules, Vol. 67, Issue 6, pp. 406–412
Year: 2002
Citations: 89
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Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease using infrared spectroscopy of isolated blood samples followed by multivariate analyses
Authors: S. Mordechai, E. Shufan, B.S.P. Katz, A. Salman
Journal: Analyst, Vol. 142, Issue 8, pp. 1276–1284
Year: 2017
Citations: 75
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Detection of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli bacteria using infrared microscopy and advanced multivariate analysis
Authors: A. Salman, U. Sharaha, E. Rodriguez-Diaz, E. Shufan, K. Riesenberg, M. Huleihel
Journal: Analyst, Vol. 142, Issue 12, pp. 2136–2144
Year: 2017
Citations: 67
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Characteristic absorbance of nucleic acids in the Mid-IR region as possible common biomarkers for diagnosis of malignancy
Authors: R.K. Sahu, S. Argov, A. Salman, M. Huleihel, N. Grossman, Z. Hammody, S. Mordechai
Journal: Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment, Vol. 3, Issue 6, pp. 629–638
Year: 2004
Citations: 65
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FT-IR microscopic characterization of normal and malignant human colonic tissues
Authors: A. Salman, S. Argov, J. Ramesh, J. Goldstein, I. Sinelnikov, H. Guterman, S. Mordechai
Journal: Cellular and Molecular Biology (Noisy-le-grand), Vol. 47, pp. 159–166
Year: 2001
Citations: 64
Conclusion
Prof. Dr. Ahmad Salman exemplifies the integration of fundamental physics and cutting-edge biomedical diagnostics. His career trajectory, from physics education to full professorship, has been marked by a commitment to interdisciplinary innovation. Through pioneering research in IR spectroscopy and machine learning, he has developed diagnostic tools capable of identifying pathogens rapidly and accurately, offering clinical solutions to challenges like sepsis and antimicrobial resistance. His leadership in multi-institutional projects has resulted in significant external funding and numerous high-impact publications. As an educator and mentor, Prof. Salman continues to train the next generation of scientists, guiding postdoctoral researchers and graduate students across physics, engineering, and biomedical disciplines. His future plans involve expanding clinical validation of spectroscopic diagnostic tools, integrating deep learning frameworks, and contributing to personalized and precision medicine. Prof. Salman’s research vision is translational—focused on bridging laboratory innovation and bedside diagnostics. His combined achievements in scholarship, teaching, mentorship, and academic leadership place him among the leading figures in Israel’s scientific and educational community.