Prof. Yehia Mechref is a Paul W. Horn Distinguished Professor in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Texas Tech University.  He is also Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation and the Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Genomics. He received a B.Sc. in chemistry from the American University of Beirut (Beirut, Lebanon) and a Ph.D. with an honorable mention from Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK, USA).

Dr. Mechref is a world-renowned scientist. He is a nationally and internationally recognized scientific leader in the development of sensitive biomolecular mass spectrometry methods enabling qualitative and quantitative assessments of the roles of proteins, glycoproteins, and glycans in biological systems. Analytical methods developed by Dr. Mechref are routinely employed by scientists for the unequivocal assessment of the roles of glycans in the development and progression of many diseases and medical conditions, including esophagus adenocarcinoma, high-grade dysplasia, Barrett's Esophagus, breast cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, trauma brain injury. Over the past nine years, Dr. Mechref's research program has received over $10 M in funding from the NIH, CPRIT, and CH Foundation, and he currently has multiple active NIH grants.

Dr. Mechref is a prolific writer who has published 34 review articles, 16 book chapters, and 209 peer-reviewed research papers. He holds 11 US patents and has guest-edited 7 journal special issues. Currently, Dr. Mechref's Google Scholar h-index is 65, with 12,612 citations. In 2021, Dr. Mechref's work has been cited over 1000 times.

Dr. Mechref is the founding Editor-in-Chief of Biochem and associate editor of Frontiers in Oncology and Frontiers in Bioscience-Elite. He is also a member of the editorial boards of numerous journals. Dr. Mechref has organized and co-organized numerous symposia and conferences, and is a standing member of the NIH EBIT study section. Dr. Mechref currently co-chairs the Steering Committee of the NCI Alliance of Glycobiologists for Cancer Research.

Dr. Mechref is the recipient of the 2019 TTU President's Academic Achievement Award, the 2019 TTU Nancy J. Bell Faculty Excellence in Mentoring Award, the 2016 Barnie E. Rushing, Jr. Faculty Distinguished Research Award, and the 2015 Barnie E. Rushing, Jr. Faculty Outstanding Research Award.