Dima A. Hammoud, MD

BS, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
MD, American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Dr. Hammoud attended college at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, where she earned a bachelor's degree in biology and an M.D. degree. After completing a residency in diagnostic radiology at the American University of Beirut-Medical Center, she joined the division of neuroradiology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital as a fellow. After completion of her fellowships, she joined the neuroradiology faculty at Johns Hopkins as assistant professor before eventually joining  the neuroradiology faculty at NIH-CC.

Dr. Hammoud is board-certified in diagnostic imaging by the American Board of Radiology, and has completed fellowships in neuroradiology and PET imaging. She currently serves as chair of the "Imaging of Infections interest group" (IOI) at the World Molecular Imaging Society (WMIS), Chair of the animal care and use committee (ACUC) at the NIH-CC, committee member of the intramural PET Steering Committee at NIH and member of the scientific program committee of the WMIC since 2021. 

Dr. Hammoud’s research interests include the development of preclinical, translational and clinical molecular imaging applications to improve the understanding of the pathophysiology of infection, and to provide reliable imaging biomarkers of infectious diseases. Current research in the laboratory focuses on the development and validation of novel fungal-specific imaging biomarkers in animal models of infection which can then be translated to human applications, using non-invasive molecular imaging techniques, mainly positron emission tomography (PET). 

Another interest of the lab is utilizing molecular imaging to better understand the pathophysiology of HIV in the brain and periphery and to identify  HIV reservoirs. 

Dr. Hammoud also collaborates with NIAID researchers to image high-consequence viral infections such as Ebola, Nipah and Lassa viruses. She has >140 peer-reviewed publications, 7 book chapters, and has won multiple awards including the 2024 NIH Director’s award for her work on imaging fungal infections.

• NIH Director’s award for Research, 2024, in recognition of “the invention of innovative fungal-specific radiotracers in collaboration with NIH intramural partners.”

• Intramural Targeted Anti-COVID-19 (ITAC) Award (2020-2023): Imaging effect of S-protein mediated ACE2 downregulation on lung injury. Role: Principal Investigator.

• Office of AIDS Research (2020) strategic fund: PET Imaging of HIV in animal models using radiolabeled single-domain antibody against the CD4-binding site of Gp120. Role: Principal Investigator.

• Office of AIDS Research (2017): PET Imaging of Presynaptic Nigrostriatal Dopaminergic Function in Optimally Treated HIV+ Patients. Role:  Principal Investigator.

• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Merit award (2015).

• Bench to Bedside award (2012-2013): Treatment of Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Role:  Associate Investigator (PI: Avindra Nath).

Lau CY, Lyndaker A, Shah S, Wakim P, Mitchell A, Monroe C, Kim A, Cropper TL, Nair G, Snow J, Smith BR, Nath A, Hammoud DA. Serotonergic and Dopaminergic Function in Neuropsychiatrically Asymptomatic People With HIV on Antiretroviral Therapy. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2025 Jul;12(7):1418-1430.

Martinez-Orengo N, Shah S, Lai J, Basuli F, Lyndaker A, Turner ML, Peiravi M, Sourabh S, Sampson K, Zhang P, Swenson RE, Lusso P, Maldarelli F, Nath A, Lau CY, Hammoud DA. “PET imaging of HIV-1 envelope protein gp120 using 18F-labeled nanobodies”. iScience, Available online 13 January 2025, 111795.

Lyndaker A, Lau C-Y, Shah S, Wakim P, Kelly E, Horne E, McMahan C, Spiegel A, Gollom E, Chien A, Mitchell A, Monroe C, Kim A, Nair G, Snow J, Smith B, Nath A, Hammoud DA. Cardiovascular disease, brain glucose metabolism and neurocognitive decline in People With HIV.  Open Forum Infect Dis. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2024 Sep 20;11(10):ofae552.

Shah S, Lai J, Basuli F, Martinez-Orengo N, Patel R, Turner ML, Wang B, Shi ZD, Sourabh S, Peiravi M, Lyndaker A, Liu S, Seyedmousavi S, Williamson PR, Swenson RE, Hammoud DA. “Development and preclinical validation of 2-deoxy 2-[(18)F]fluorocellobiose as an Aspergillus-specific PET tracer”. Sci Transl Med. 2024 Aug 14;16(760):eadl5934.

Lai J, Shah S, Martinez-Orengo N, Knight R, Alemu E, Turner ML, Wang B, Lyndaker A, Shi J, Basuli F, Hammoud DA. “PET imaging of Aspergillus infection using Zirconium-89 labeled anti-β-glucan antibody fragments”. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2024 Sept 24;51(11):3223-3234.

Basuli F, Shi J, Shah S, Lai J, Hammoud DA, Swenson RE. “Fully Automated Cassette-Based Synthesis of 2-Deoxy-2-[18F]Fluorocellobiose Using Trasis AllInOne Module”. J Labelled Comp Radiopharm. 2024 Jul;67(9):308-313.

Hammoud DA, Clifford Lane H, Jain SK. Molecular Imaging of Infections: Advancing the Search for the Hidden Enemy. J Infect Dis. 2023 Oct 3;228:S233-S236.

Shah S, Sinharay S, Patel R, Solomon J, Lee JH, Schreiber-Stainthorp W, Basuli F, Zhang X, Hagen KR, Reeder R, Wakim P, Huzella LM, Maric D, Johnson RF, Hammoud DA. PET imaging of TSPO expression in immune cells can assess organ-level pathophysiology in high-consequence viral infections. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Apr 12;119(15):e2110846119.

Lai J, Shah S, Knight R, Martinez-Orengo N, Patel R, Mitchell A, Wang Z, Basuli F, Ordonez AA, Jain SK, Hammoud DA. Evaluation of 2-[ 18 F]-Fluorodeoxysorbitol PET Imaging in Preclinical Models of Aspergillus Infection. J Fungi, 2021, Dec 28;8(1):25

Schreiber-Stainthorp W, Solomon J, Lee JH, Castro M, Shah S, Martinez-Orengo N, Reeder R, Maric D, Gross R, Qin J, Hagen KR, Johnson RF, Hammoud DA.  “Longitudinal in vivo imaging of acute neuropathology in a monkey model of Ebola virus infection”. Nature communications, 2021 May 17;12(1):2855.

Wang Z, Manion MM, Laidlaw E, Rupert A, Lau CY, Smith BR, Nath A, Sereti I, Hammoud DA. “Redistribution of brain glucose metabolism in people with HIV after antiretroviral therapy initiation”. AIDS. 2021 Jul 1;35(8):1209-1219.