Mahdi Belcaid
Associate Professor, Information and Computer Sciences, College of Natural Sciences
Associate Professor, Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology
Phone: (808) 956-6049
E-mail: mahdi@hawaii.edu
Web: https://mahdi-b.github.io/
LinkedIn: LinkedIn Page
MY RESEARCH
Our research focuses on the development and application of computational methods to address challenges in biology, with an emphasis on protein language models and their role in understanding genome-to-phenome relationships. I work on improving these models to better represent viral and microbial proteins, enabling discoveries in areas such as protein function prediction, evolutionary analysis, and pathogen virulence.
Our work combines machine learning, natural language processing, and bioinformatics to analyze large-scale genomic and proteomic datasets. By integrating advanced modeling approaches with domain expertise, we aim to uncover novel biological insights that support innovation in health, environmental sciences, and microbial ecology.
C-MĀIKI SYNERGY
Our work advances C-MAIKI’s mission by contributing cutting-edge AI approaches, including protein language models and deep learning frameworks, to analyze microbial genomes and proteomes at unprecedented scale. These innovations go beyond traditional methods by revealing complex functional relationships that underpin microbial dynamics, adaptation, and ecosystem health.
IMPACT TO HAWAII
Our team develops sophisticated computational methods that make it easier to study Hawai‘i’s microbiomes—key drivers of ecosystem health, food security, and disease resilience across the islands. We pair this research with targeted outreach and mentoring, training Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students in data science and bioinformatics so the next generation of STEM talent is grown and retained locally.