Research profile / For prospective doctoral supervisors and collaborators

From chemical response to therapeutic action.

I studied chemistry before moving into pharmaceutical sciences. My work has involved molecular sensing, polymer surfaces, developing blood vessels, mechanically injured lung cells and inhalable drug carriers. Those experiences changed the question I ask of a promising compound: where will it go, what will it encounter and what measurement will tell us whether it has acted?

For doctoral research, I am drawn to problems where therapeutic chemistry meets cell biology: a compound that binds a target but fails in a cell, a drug carrier that changes during administration, or target engagement that does not produce the expected response. I want to work deeply on one testable problem, with synthesis, formulation, pharmacology or imaging chosen because the experiment requires them.

Original research and contributions ↗Doctoral questions ↗View academic profile ↗Contact ↗

Research I can show.

My experimental experience includes the controls and measurements of pulmonary flow-chamber studies, implementing a high-speed imaging system, and preparing and characterizing plasma-treated polymer films and scaffolds. The linked papers and case studies distinguish studies I wrote and analysed from collaborative projects in which I performed experiments without writing or analysing the final paper.

First author · Original research · 2021Mechanical injury to pulmonary epithelial cells and pharmacological protection.

Journal of Applied Physiology. Experimentally investigated epithelial injury associated with mechanical ventilation and pharmacological protection. In this first-author study, my contribution spanned cell and flow-chamber experimentation, analysis and interpretation, figures and manuscript writing with collaborators, including Dr. Anton Popelka.

Read the original study ↗ · Experimental dossier ↗

Collaborative original research · 2021Engineering polymer surface chemistry.

Polymers. Cold-plasma-assisted modification of poly(lactic acid), connecting treatment to measurable surface properties. Working with Dr. Anton Popelka and collaborators, I contributed to investigation and formal analysis, as confirmed by the published 2021 CRediT statement. My recollection also includes manuscript contribution, but the journal credits original drafting and editorial work to other coauthors.

Read the original study ↗ · Materials case study ↗ · Methods ↗

Equal first contribution · Computational research · 2023Deep learning for fetal echocardiography.

IEEE Access. Equal-first-author contribution across the machine-learning workflow, from fetal ultrasound-data preparation through model development, training and evaluation, analytical interpretation, preparation of figures and manuscript writing.

Read the original study ↗ · Computational portfolio ↗

Collaborative original research · 2018Endothelial cilia during zebrafish cerebral-vascular development.

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. My role was experimental only, without data analysis, interpretation or manuscript writing. The vascular-development findings belong to a collaborative study.

Read the original study ↗

The curcumin/cyanide sensing study was also experimental-only for me: I did not analyze or interpret its data or write its manuscript. My high-speed zebrafish methods work included implementing the camera/acquisition system and writing its imaging protocol. See the methods dossier ↗ In the clinical ACE2/COVID-19 project I helped obtain the research grant, participated in research and data analysis, interpreted results and contributed to writing. In the soluble-ACE2 review, I proposed its conceptual interpretation and drafted the relevant sections. My first-listed book chapters involved leading the literature research and manuscript development; the Wiley heart-failure sensors chapter formally lists me second, despite my substantial writing involvement. See the complete selected bibliography with contribution statements ↗

What I am working on now.

My MSc research at Qatar University concerns dexamethasone-loaded niosomes and proniosomes intended for pulmonary delivery. The investigation involves formulation design, physicochemical characterization, nebulization and aerosol-performance questions. A stable carrier in a vial is not necessarily a useful carrier after administration; aerosol behavior, tissue exposure and biological activity must be established separately.

This project is ongoing. I do not present proposed or incomplete outcomes as demonstrated efficacy. My academic history also includes imine chemical sensing, polymeric and electrospun materials, cell-based mechanobiology, imaging and quantitative scientific workflows.

Research investigations ↗ · Figures and evidence ↗ · Experimental methods ↗

Two connected doctoral starting points.

I am especially interested in chemical biology, pharmacology and engineered delivery. These are proposed directions for doctoral training, not claims that I have already synthesized PROTACs or built an organ-on-chip device.

Target engagement through chemical design.

Choose one disease-relevant protein state and test whether a carefully designed intervention changes its function. I want to learn and use bioorthogonal click chemistry and bioconjugation, bifunctional degraders such as PROTACs, molecular glues and aptamer-based recognition where the biology justifies each tool. Pair molecular characterization with target engagement, degradation or functional rescue, rather than relying on binding alone.

Testable chemical-biology concept ↗ · Experimental questions ↗

Delivery as a pharmacological experiment.

Choose a therapeutic cargo, such as an RNA modality, aptamer conjugate or targeted small molecule, and determine where productive exposure is lost. Develop lipid/polymeric or other appropriate carriers, investigate microfluidic formulation and transport, and measure intracellular fate and functional dose response in relevant cellular models. Connect formulation engineering to PK/PD and mechanistic predictions.

Testable RNA-delivery concept ↗ · Delivery questions ↗

A microfluidic organ-on-chip or organoid model could then test a specific tissue barrier or disease state, but its predictive validity must be measured, not presumed. I want to connect molecular chemistry, engineering and quantitative pharmacology through experiments that could ultimately support translation from bench to bedside.

Where I could contribute, and where I want to learn.

Existing foundation: experimental chemical and materials research, pulmonary epithelial injury, scientific imaging, formulation and aerosol questions, research writing, and collaborative computational work. My publication record and methods archive document these experiences with different degrees of individual involvement.

Doctoral training goals: advanced medicinal and click chemistry; PROTAC and other targeted-modality design; aptamer and RNA therapeutics; microfluidic manufacturing and organ-on-chip engineering; cellular target-engagement assays; experimental pharmacology, PK/PD and human-relevant disease modelling. These are priorities for developing deeper competence, not a list of techniques already mastered.

The common problem is practical: a chemically persuasive intervention is not a medicine until its exposure, action, selectivity and biological consequences can be demonstrated.

Research directions and agenda ↗ · Academic profile ↗ · Discuss research fit ↗