Welcome!

My name is Abeer Eshra. I have been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Maynooth University since September 2025. Just before that, I was a senior postdoctoral fellow in the TAPDANCE group, with whom I am still collaborating. Under the DISCO project, led by Damien Woods, we developed thermodynamically favourable DNA computing programs. I am interested in experimentally implementing DNA devices that can solve renewable, autonomous computational problems. 

I hold a Computer Science and Engineering PhD, specialising in DNA Computing. I received a scholarship from my country (Egypt) to be a visiting scholar at Duke University, Durham, USA. To conduct my thesis experimental work, I worked under the supervision of two great DNA Computing professors, Prof. Chris Dwyer and Prof. John H. Reif. My work focused on developing reusable DNA logic devices. I received my BSc and MSc from Menoufia University in 2006 and 2013, respectively. My PhD was a collaborative work between Menoufia University and Duke University under the supervision of Prof. Nawal El-Fishawy, Prof. John Reif and Prof. Ayman El-Sayed. I successfully defended my dissertation in May 2019.

I worked as a teaching and research assistant from September 2006 to May 2015. I also worked as a lecturer for two years at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University. 

• September 2026, Abeer is a joint first author of a new publication in Nature! 

  • • Paper open access at: A thermodynamically favoured molecular computer | Nature and a research briefing at: Molecular computation that rolls energetically downhill | Nature 

• September 2026, Jerry Kiely started his PhD! Welcome to the group, Jerry!

• August 2026, Proud of my student Manal and Brooklyn presenting their research at the DNA32 conference in Arkansas. LinkedIn post.

• November 2025, Manal Mekelleche started her PhD. Welcome Manal!

• September 2025, starting project TRAD, Thermally regulated Renewable and Automated DNA Computing Devices. Funded by Research Ireland, Pathway Program.

• I am recruiting a PhD and a postdoctoral researcher to start my group at Maynooth University! 

  • • PhD ad link, PD ad link

• June 2025, Abeer was awarded Research Ireland Pathway Programme funding. Read about it in the Maynooth University news and the Research Ireland press release.

• June 2025, Presenting our latest work on the scaffolded DNA computer at two conferences: New Trends in DNA-Based Data Storage in Prague and Storage and Computing with DNA in Paris.

• March 2025, Presenting a case study at the conference on Integrating Sustainability in the Engineering and Computer Science Curriculum. My presentation is titled "DNA Computing: A Sustainable Approach to Engineering, Computation, and Storage Challenges"

• October 2024, DISCO project public launch.

• June 2024, Travelling to Munich to attend the first DNA-based digital data storage (#DigNA) portfolio meeting. Details are on the DISCO webpage.

• January 2024: Abeer became a senior postdoctoral fellow in the Tapdance Group in Maynooth University, Ireland

• August 2021: Abeer joined the Tapdance Group as a postdoctoral fellow at Maynooth University, Ireland.

• Nov 2019: Abeer published a new paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society titled: "Programming DNA-Based Biomolecular Reaction Networks on Cancer Cell Membranes". DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b05598. 

• Sep 2019: Abeer got a new publication at Nature Nanotechnology titled: "Fast and compact DNA logic circuits based on single-stranded gates using strand-displacing polymerase". DOI: 10.1038/s41565-019-0544-5. 

• Sep 2019: Abeer co-authored a book chapter titled: "Nucleic Acid Hairpins: A Robust and Powerful Motif for Molecular Devices" chapter 7 in Soft Nanomaterials, publisher: World Scientific. ISBN: 9811201048.

• Sep 2019: Abeer started teaching Data Structures and Algorithms to undergraduate students at the Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University.

• July 2019: Abeer started the role of a lecturer at the Computer Science and Engineering Department, at the Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University.

• May 2019: Abeer defended her PhD thesis at Menoufia University.

• February 2019: Abeer published her PhD work in IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology. The paper is titled: "Renewable DNA Hairpin-Based Logic Circuits". DOI: 10.1109/TNANO.2019.2896189 

• October 2018: Abeer got a new publication in ACS NANO titled: "Improving the Performance of DNA Strand Displacement Circuits by Shadow Cancellation". DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b07394. 

• August 2017: Abeer finished her experimental work at Duke University and returned to Egypt to finish her PhD.

• May 2017: Abeer got a new publication at RSC Advances titled: "Renewable DNA seesaw logic circuits enabled by photoregulation of toehold-mediated strand displacement" DOI: 10.1039/C7RA02607B.

• April 2017: Abeer flew to Utah to present a poster at the FNANO17 conference. The title was "A reversible DNA seesaw motif with hairpins".

• June 2016: Abeer transferred the lab to be under the supervision of Prof. John H. Reif.

• April 2016: Abeer attended the FNANO16 conference at Snowbird Cliff Lodge, Snowbird, Utah.

• August 2015: Abeer started a visiting scholar program to work on her PhD experimental work at Duke University under the supervision of Prof. Chris Dwyer.