Dr. Zalan pursues research in the field of medical microbiology, particularly in the epidemiology of nosocomial infections. Investigation of hospital-acquired infections is of my specific expertise. But unfortunately, due to unexpected surrounding difficulties, I could not fulfill my specialization research interest. Therefore, I had to pursue research in different fields, that include: 

1. 1. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) which is considered to be a global and local challenging threat. The aim of my current comprehensive study is to determine the prevalence and the trends of “diabetes type 2” among Arab community in Israel in relation to demographic as well as the risk factors.
   2. As our society proved to have a high rate of consanguinity that led to increased incidence of genetic disorders, some of my interests also focused on genetic counseling in order to determine the factors associated with the utilization of this service to pregnant women in the Arab society. Furthermore, one of our studies is about the implementations of the genetic counselor’s recommendations. Such study is expected to contribute positively for the implementations of preventive programs.
   3. Studies on genetic disorders that resulted in identifying new gene mutations, new causative genes and new cases. These disorders were found to be related to our society, thus, characterization of such genetic disorders had an international scientific impact as well as a specific benefit for the concerned families.
   4. Consanguinity as a risk factor for genetic disorders and congenital malformations, this research interest was important as there was a lack of data from our region in this regard. This had a joint interest with our research center (TRDC), as one of the research interests of this center is to characterize various health and social problems, in order to suggest possible intervention and prevention programs.