Farha Naz | Drug Repurposing | Women Researcher Award

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Dr. Farha Naz | Drug Repurposing | Women Researcher Award

Research Scientist at University of Virginia | United States

Dr. Farha Naz is a dynamic and accomplished structural biologist and immunologist, currently serving as a Research Scientist at the University of Virginia, USA. With a Ph.D. in Structural Biology from Jamia Millia Islamia, she has cultivated a distinguished research career focused on infectious diseases, host immunity, and vaccine development. Her postdoctoral work spans prestigious institutions including ICMR and UVA, and she has contributed to impactful translational research on Clostridioides difficile infection, tuberculosis, and host-pathogen interactions. Dr. Naz is also a frequent corresponding author and editorial contributor, demonstrating her leadership and scientific vision in global biomedical research.

Publication Profile 

Google Scholar

Education 

Dr. Farha Naz earned her Ph.D. in Structural Biology from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, graduating top of her batch in pre-PhD coursework. She completed her M.Sc. in Biotechnology in from Jamia Hamdard. Her B.Sc. from the University of Allahabad was marked by academic distinction, graduating. She completed her 12th and 10th at RDBIC, Allahabad. Her educational journey reflects academic excellence.

Experience 

Dr. Naz began her academic career as a Guest Faculty at the Centre of Bioinformatics, University of Allahabad. She later served as a Temporary Assistant Professor at SHUATS, Allahabad. she held a prestigious ICMR-Centenary Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Institute of Pathology-ICMR in New Delhi. She then joined the University of Virginia as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health. Since February  she has been a Research Scientist in the same department, contributing to cutting-edge immunological and translational research in infectious diseases.

Awards and Honors 

Dr. Farha Naz has received multiple academic honors throughout her career. She was awarded the Junior Scientist Award by the Council of Science & Technology, U.P. She graduated as the Faculty Topper of her B.Sc. batch. She has qualified prestigious national fellowships and exams including the CSIR-UGC Fellowship in December, GATE in February, and the CSIR-UGC NET in June. These achievements highlight her consistent academic performance and her early recognition as a promising scientific talent. Her excellence continues through her high-impact research outputs and leadership roles in translational science.

Research Focus 

Dr. Naz’s research centers on host-pathogen interactions, mucosal immunology, and vaccine development, particularly against Clostridioides difficile and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. She investigates the mechanisms by which pathogens evade host immunity and how immune modulation can be leveraged for therapeutic interventions. Her work explores innate immune responses, cytokine signaling, GPCR modulation, and the role of sphingolipids in infection. She has contributed significantly to understanding vaccine adjuvants, humoral responses in recurrent infections, and therapeutic strategies involving immune and nervous system crosstalk. Her translational research aims to advance precision immunotherapy and infectious disease control globally.

Publication Top Notes

Investigation of molecular mechanism of recognition between citral and MARK4: A newer therapeutic approach to attenuate cancer cell progression

Microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 4: structure, function, and regulation

Elucidation of dietary polyphenolics as potential inhibitor of microtubule affinity regulating kinase 4: in silico and in vitro studies

Designing new kinase inhibitor derivatives as therapeutics against common complex diseases: structural basis of microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 4 (MARK4) inhibition

PKR-inhibitor binds efficiently with human microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 4

Battling COVID-19 pandemic: sphingosine-1-phosphate analogs as an adjunctive therapy?

Cloning, Expression, Purification and Refolding of Microtubule Affinity-Regulating Kinase 4 Expressed in Escherichia coli

Ubiquitin-associated domain of MARK4 provides stability at physiological pH

Atypical PKC phosphorylates microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 4 in vitro

Sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling in Leishmania donovani infection in macrophages

Evaluation of human microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 4 inhibitors: fluorescence binding studies, enzyme, and cell assays

Human microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 4 is stable at extremes of pH

Nazia chaudhary | Drug Repurposing | Young Scientist Award

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Nazia chaudhary | Drug Repurposing | Young Scientist Award

Dr Nazia chaudhary, ACTREC, TMC, India

Dr. Nazia Chaudhary is a distinguished cancer researcher 🧬 with a Ph.D. focused on pathways promoting tumorigenesis and therapy resistance upon Plakophilin 3 loss 🎗️. Her academic journey includes notable projects on protease-producing thermophiles 🌡️ and mitochondrial function ⚡. She co-holds patents on Lipocalin-2 antibodies 🧪 and has published extensively in high-impact journals 📚, including Redox Biology and FEBS Letters. A DST Inspire Faculty Fellow (2023) 🌟, she has received numerous awards, including the Vaishno Endowment Prize 🏆 and Mahindra Talent Scholarships 🎓. Dr. Chaudhary’s impactful work has been presented globally 🌍, including at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York.

Publication Profile

Orcid

Academic Project

Dr. Nazia Chaudhary is an accomplished researcher with a Ph.D. focused on the project “Characterization of pathways that promote tumorigenesis, radio, and chemo-resistance upon Plakophilin 3 loss.” 💡🧬 She worked on isolating and characterizing protease and antimicrobial-producing thermophiles from Ganeshpuri hot springs at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai (Jan-Apr 2015). 🌋🔬 Additionally, she contributed to the external project “MKT1 Dependent Regulation of Mitochondrial Function” at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (May-Aug 2014). 🧪⚙️ Her EXSP project involved isolating and screening thermophilic Actinomycetes for enzymes with industrial importance. 🔍🌡️ Dr. Chaudhary’s diverse research showcases her expertise in microbiology and biotechnology. 🌟

Conference Attended

Dr. Nazia Chaudhary has showcased her research on various esteemed platforms. She presented a poster titled “Screening of Thermophilic Actinomycetes Capable of Producing Enzymes of Industrial Importance” at the Shri Sajjan Gupta Memorial Trophy for Excellence in Biological Science, held on December 11, 2012, at G.N. Khalsa College. Another poster, “Increase in Lipocalin2 Expression Upon Plakophilin3 Loss Confers Chemo and Radioresistance to Tumor Cells,” was presented at the Environmental Mutagen Society of India (EMSI) conference in January 2018 at BARC, Mumbai, and at the prestigious Mechanisms & Models of Cancer meeting in August 2018 at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York. 🌟🔬📊

Awards and Honors

Dr. Nazia Chaudhary is a distinguished scholar with multiple accolades. She was awarded the prestigious DST Inspire Faculty Award in 2023 and recognized for her research on lipocalin 2 expression and chemo-radiotherapy resistance at the 14th Indo-Australian Biotechnology Conference. She served as a Board of Studies member for Sophia College’s Zoology Department (2018-2021). Throughout her academic journey, she earned various honors, including the Ramidevi Murlidhar Jalan Award 🏆, Saifee Education Aid Scholarship 🎓, and the Mahindra Search for Talent Scholarship 🌟. Her exceptional performance also earned her the Mrs. A. Varghese Prize 🥇 and several other prestigious scholarships and awards.

Patent

Dr. Nazia Chaudhary, along with Sorab N. Dalal, Manjula Das, Sujan K. Dhar, and Smitha P. K., contributed to the development of “Antibodies Against Lipocalin-2 and Use Thereof.” This groundbreaking research led to two key milestones. The first was the PCT application (PCT/IN2020/051068) with publication no. WO/2021/137254 on July 8, 2021. The second was the Indian patent (DBT Indian Patent no: 202021000274) granted on July 30, 2021, published in the Patent Office journal no. 31/2021. These innovations hold significant potential for medical advancements. 🧬💉🧪🔬

Research Focus

Dr. Nazia Chaudhary’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of cancer progression, therapy resistance, and invasion, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and colorectal cancer. She investigates the role of Lipocalin 2 (LCN2) in regulating cellular processes like focal adhesion formation, actin glutathionylation, and ferroptosis inhibition, which are critical for tumor cell migration and resistance to treatment. Her work explores the interplay between signaling pathways, such as Src activation and glutathione metabolism, to uncover potential vulnerabilities in cancer cells. 🧬💥💉🧪🧫

Publication Top Notes

LCN2 promotes focal adhesion formation and invasion by stimulating Src activation

EGFR-to-Src family tyrosine kinase switching in proliferating-DTP TNBC cells creates a hyperphosphorylation-dependent vulnerability to EGFR TKI

GPX4-VIM equates a proliferating DTP state in TNBC subtypes with converged vulnerabilities to autophagy and glutathione inhibition

Lipocalin 2 inhibits actin glutathionylation to promote invasion and migration.

The Role of Lipocalin 2 (LCN2) in Regulating Ferroptosis and Therapy Resistance