Professor Joseph Borg, PhD, M.O.M.
Applied Biomedical Science · University of Malta

The Borg Group studies how inherited variation and gene regulation shape blood-cell development. Our programme connects globin biology, molecular genetics and space bioscience.

Joseph Borg became a full professor in 2020, following an EMBO fellowship at Erasmus MC in 2011–2013. He was appointed a Member of Malta’s National Order of Merit in 2025. Institutional biography and academic profile.

Blood and globins. The Maltese KLF1–HPFH discovery and the microattribution study in Nature Genetics connect rare human phenotypes with gene regulation and systematic variant documentation. Later work investigates KLF1-associated erythroid phenotypes, HbF modifiers and the chromatin landscape.

Space bioscience. Collaborative studies analyse globin-gene expression in astronaut blood and plasma, host–microbiome responses during short-duration spaceflight, and diabetic-foot-ulcer microbiomes in the Maleth programme. Contributions include Nature Communications and Nature Microbiology research, and a Nature review of space omics.

A continuing Maltese scientific heritage. Our work builds on the haemoglobin research of Alex E. Felice and international collaborators. The discovery timeline follows this history into current molecular and multiomics studies.

Explore the verified publication index · Research enquiries