Ishrat Waheed

Dr. Ishrat Waheed has over twenty-five years of experience working as an educator, researcher, consultant, and administrator, in North America, Asia, and the Caribbean.

Dr. Waheed received her doctorate in Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, and completed her research fellowships at the National Institutes of Health, USA, and the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Canada. She also holds medical education and academic management certificates from Penn State, Stanford, and Harvard Universities.

Prior to joining Saba, Dr. Waheed had held senior academic and administrative positions at several institutions and taught Biochemistry, Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics, Pharmacology, Immunology, and Virology, at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Additionally, she has served as a consultant and advisor for various international organizations.

Dr. Waheed’s research interests include cancer vaccines, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, allergic asthma, and infectious inflammatory disorders.  She has mentored over 20 numerous MS/PhD scholars. She has published several articles in high-ranking journals and presented her research findings at prestigious medical conferences and workshops. She has also served as an editorial board member of numerous medical research journals.

In her free time, Dr. Waheed likes to travel and explore nature, for medicinal plants.

• Biochemistry/Molecular Biology/Genetics
• Pharmacology/Toxicology
• Immunology/Virology
• Gene therapy

• Medical education travel award (2011): Leading innovations in health care & education, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
• Best research project award (2005): Post-transcriptional Silencing of Inflammatory Cytokine Receptor Genes in Allergic Asthma”.  FAOBMB symposium, Pakistan.
• Research Fellowship (2001-2002): Gene therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Canada.
• Fogarty Research Fellowship (1997-1999): Cancer Gene Therapy, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA.
• Tulane Research Fellowship award (1996-1997): Recombinant HPV Vaccine for Cervical Cancer, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, USA.
• Johns Hopkins Research Studentship Award (1993-1996): Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
• Quaid-e-Azam merit scholarship award (1990-1993): Higher Education Commission, Pakistan

• Effect of voltage-gated sodium channels blockers on motility and viability of human sperm in vitro. Asian Pac. J. Reprod. 2018; 7 (2), 62-71.
• Evaluation of hydroethanolic extract of Opuntia monacantha Haw for analgesic activity. World J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 2014; 3(2); 1006-1020.
• Evaluation of anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic activities of Artemisia scoparia hydromethanolic extract. J Ethnopharmacol. 2013; Jan 9;145(1):18-24.
• Specific post-transcriptional inhibition of mRNA for ligand binding chain of IgE high-affinity receptor. Mol. Biol, Reports. 2011; Jan; 38(1):675-81.
• Intragenic deletions of dystrophin gene in Pakistani population. Pediatr. Int. Apr. 2008; 50(2):162-6.
• Recurrent intragenic deletion mutation in desmoglein-4 gene underlies autosomal recessive hypotrichosis in two Pakistani families of Balochi and Sindhi origins. Arch. Dermatol. Res. 2006; Aug. 2; 298 (3): 135-137.
• Chronic inflammation-induced extrasynaptic utrophin upregulation in muscle fibers of mdx mice is correlated with reduced calpain activity. Human Gene Therapy. 2005; Apr. 16 (4): 489-501.
• Expression of an antisense transcript to SV40 early gene region in T antigen-positive human mesothelioma cell lines leads to growth arrest and apoptosis. Cancer Research.199; Dec. 15. (24): 6068-73

• Drug discovery and development
• Inflammatory and viral diseases
• Cancer Biology

• Mechanism-Based Natural Product Development Conference, 2012; Sept. 21-23, Whistler, BC, Canada.
• Leading Innovations in Health Care and Education. 2011; Jun. 25 – Jul.  05, Harvard Medical School, USA.
• Keynote Speech, “Silencing the Cancer Genes”. 19th Annual Meeting of the Medical Research Society. 2009; Oct. 30-31; Univ. of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.