Dr. Mihașan holds a B.Sc. degree in biochemistry and an M.Sc. degree in molecular genetics from the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iași, Romania. He also holds a Ph.D. in Biology, his work being focused on the role of several genes in the catabolic megaplasmid pAO1 of Arthrobacter nicotinovorans. His Ph.D. work was carried out jointly in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Roderich Brandsch (Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, Germany) and Prof. Dr. Vlad Artenie (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași).
Dr. Mihasan held a junior researcher position at the National Institute for Research and Development in Biological Sciences in Iasi, and a full researcher position in the Darie Biochemistry & Proteomics Association at Clarkson University (New York, USA). Since 2020 he has become Professor in the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the Faculty of Biology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, where his main research topic is the molecular biology of megaplasmid pAO1 related to nicotine-generated oxidative stress defense mechanism and sugar catabolism.
Dr. Mihășan’s work focuses on the molecular evolution of megaplasmid pAO1 as a way to investigate its role in the spread of catabolic properties among Gram-positive bacteria in soil, as well as a way to identify the origin of the megaplasmid. Lately, in collaboration with Dr. Lucian Hritcu, he has been working on the evaluation of possible medical applications of Paenarthrobacter nicotinovorans (formerly Arthrobacter nicotinovorans). Since Paenarthrobacter nicotinovorans could be used for decontamination of nicotine-containing waste, he is also exploring biotechnological applications of this strain in collaboration with Dr. Stefan Marius.
