In 2005 after completing his Masters degree from Quaid-i-Azam University, Dr. Tahir joined the Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad(CUI) as a Research Associate and was subsequently promoted to Lecturer in 2006. At CUI, as a member of the Human Genomics and Proteomics Group (HGPG), he started working on a research project entitled “Mapping the genes responsible for autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa”. In 2009, he was awarded a scholarship for doctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The main focus of his PhD dissertation was the elucidation of molecular events that prepare sperm for fertilization. He studied how proteins important for membrane fusion in sperm (SNARE proteins) interact as sperm mature before fertilization. He found that they form higher molecular weight complexes that include SNAREs and other regulatory proteins. These complexes include phosphoproteins whose phosphorylation status changes as sperm mature. He discovered that these complexes also shift into low-density membrane rafts in preparation for fusion, allowing sperm to penetrate through the egg coat. After completing his PhD in 2013, Dr. Tahir re-joined the department as an Assistant Professor and was subsequently promoted to Associate Professor in 2022. His research interests include cellular and molecular biology, specifically molecular biology of fertilization & molecular biology of inherited diseases.
Currently, he is also serving as the In-charge Biosciences Graduate Program. If you have any queries regarding our graduate program, please contact us at grad.bio@comsats.edu.pk.