Biography:

I have extensive expertise in the field of microbe-host interactions. At the National Agricultural Research Center in Pakistan  I worked on identifying antigenic epitopes in Brucella abortus (a bacteria causing abortion in cattle) for vaccine development. Previously, I characterized the Bacillus subtilus lipase for potential additive applications.Thereafter, in my PhD dissertation at the Technical University Munich, Germany, I focused on understanding how the bacterial enzyme, gamma glutamyl transpeptidase impacts the host epithelial cells in order to cause stomach inflammation leading to gastric cancer development in Helicobacter pylori infection. Later, during my post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Comparative Medicine at the University of California, Davis, USA, I have worked on the Helicobacter pylori type four section system associated cagY protein and its role in secretion of a potent bacterial toxin. I am currently serving at one of the top-ranking institutes in Pakistan, COMSATS University Islamabad, where my research group focuses on the following topics:

1. Microbial community analysis in poultry and humans in order to understand possible overlap in transmission of zoonotic infections and emerging pathogens.

2. Prevalence and role of bacterial type six secretion system associated effectors in bacterial pathogenesis and competition.

3. Bacterial communiities in aquatic biofilms and impact of environmental stressors in these conditions on bacterial virulence