PhD student - Research Assistant
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
I am currently an international PhD student and graduate research assistant at UIUC, pursuing my degree in Pathobiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine. I graduated with a BS in Biotechnology from my home country Pakistan and then completed my MSc in Biotechnology with distinction from the UK. I briefly worked in a research institute in Pakistan after my MSc and then joined UIUC as a PhD student in 2020 as a recipient of the US-Pakistan PhD fellowship. I am co-advised by two professors with different backgrounds and expertise: Dr Fan (Veterinary Medicine) and Dr Irudayaraj (Bioengineering). Being a part of both labs helps me conduct interdisciplinary research on the mechanobiology of osteosarcoma. I am interested in studying how osteosarcoma biology changes in response to the mechanical forces exerted by changes in tissue microenvironment of the bone and the lung, which is the most common metastatic site of osteosarcoma. I am currently using exciting 3D models to mimic natural tissue architecture to study these changes. Some of these models include tunable 3D mineralized collagen models representing structurally different bone tissues, and ex vivo mice lung slices as a metastatic lung tissue model (PuMA model). Ultimately, we want to use these studies to better understand the tumor microenvironment and modify it using different therapies to reduce tumor burden. I am motivated to be an independent investigator because it provides me the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity about the living system while also allowing me to create new ideas and bring those ideas to life. Outside of research, I enjoy drawing, dancing, reading and travelling.
