Shadan Modaresahmadi

I have a background in Clinical Pharmacy with specific training and expertise in therapeutic drug monitoring and medication management. I am pursuing a PhD in the pharmaceutical science program investigating the effect of engineered drug carriers on antitumor immunity and tumor progression. My research interest is in drug delivery, complement biology, cancer chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.

• Ph.D. Pharmaceutical sciences, This project is designed to Identify the functions of intracellular complement in tumor cells, tumor-infiltrating CD4, CD8 T cells, and Tumor-associated macrophages. Testing therapeutic interventions that inhibit protumor and enhance antitumor complement activities. I have analyzed the expression of complement genes in representative tumor cell lines next by using immunohistochemistry images in the Human Protein Atlas I determined the distribution of complement proteins in different cancers in which high complement expression was associated with prognosis. Next, I determined the function of intracellular complement proteins using the siRNA approach and tested the roles of these proteins in cell survival and proliferation via Annexin V/ PI assay and BrdU assay. I focused on the mTOR pathway to find the role of complement proteins in this signaling pathway by western blotting. Additionally, I Tested the impact of inhibiting CTSL and CFB enzymes in intracellular complement activation. This has been done first by SRB assay to find the IC50 and then using the right concentration to treat cancer cells with these inhibitors and check the complement protein expression. Lastly, I tested if the intracellular complement is activated in tumor cells upon cellular stress such as hypoxia using a hypoxia chamber and examined by western blotting for C3 cleavage fragments.
• Ph.D. Pharmaceutical sciences, This project is part of the NIH RO1-funded grant. It is designed to identify new analog cholesterol to incorporate in liposome nanoparticles and encapsulate with doxorubicin and evaluate its efficacy, safety, and immune modulation. I tested the blank analog cholesterol analog lposome vs blank cholesterol analog and their effect on TAM. Currently, I am working on formulating the cholesterol analog liposome and encapsulating it with doxorubicin and troubleshooting.
• Ph.D. Pharmaceutical sciences, Identification of cholesterol metabolites produced in vitro and in vivo in response to liposome metabolism and evaluation of immune functionality of macrophages treated with liposomes containing oxysterols and cholesterol analogs. This project also is part of NIH RO1-funded grant. In this project, I am formulating the oxysterol cholesterol liposome and evaluating their effect on bone marrow differentiated macrophages.
• Ph.D. Pharmaceutical sciences, The role of liposomal ascorbyl palmitate in cancer treatment. We are also assessing the effect of lipo-AscP on immune cells. We are using the ID8 cell line as a model for ovarian cancer model. We are planning to use three groups for our in-vivo study, in which one group will receive sodium ascorbate 1 mM, one group will receive lipo-AscP 1 mM, and one group will receive PBS. Each mouse will receive treatment two times a week for two tandem weeks. Since the cell line is enhanced luciferase, Tumor growth will be assessed using bioluminescence imaging (BLI). Tumors and fluid within the developed ascites will be taken out and further assessed using flow cytometry.
• Postgraduate Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences, I identified and analyzed the structure of different selective HDAC6 inhibitors and evaluated their effect on solid tumors. I suggest a new HDAC6 inhibitor with significant selectivity and potency and its synthetic pathway. I suggested that derivatives with a bifurcated cap, 3, 4-disubstituted-imidazolidine-2, 5-dione, and urea connecting units could enhance the selectivity and potency of the treatment while reducing side effects. This is based on preliminary data indicating that effective HDAC6 inhibitors may have certain structural features, such as bulky steroidal or bifurcated caps, aromatic or aliphatic linkers, and a hydroxamate zinc-binding group. I evaluated the binding affinity and activity of the novel HDAC6 inhibitor to the HDAC6 receptor using in silico method.
• Doctor of Pharmacy, In this project, I was involved in evaluating CVD prevalence, risk factors for developing CVD among type 2 DM patients, and CVD risk factors for the next 10 years using joint British Societies recommendations on the prevention of cardiovascular disease (JBS3) scale.

COVID-19 vaccination program at Royal Borough of Greenwich, 05/2021 - 07/2021

• International Journal of Medicine and Public Health, Editorial board member
• Open Journal of Clinical and Medical Case Reports, Reviewer
• International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), Member

• Thirty years from FDA approval of Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin: an updated analysis and future perspective, BMJ Oncology, Under review
• Immune implications of cholesterol-containing lipid nanoparticles, ACS Nano, Under review
• Finding optimal targets for complement-based cancer therapy, Immunobiology, Published, 09/01/2023
• CAR-modified immune cells as a rapidly evolving approach in the context of cancer immunotherapies, Medical Oncology, Published, 04/21/2023
• Appraising Risk of Development of Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Heart India, Published, 2018
• Multi-drug Resistant Poly-Microbial Bacteraemia and Sepsis: A Rare Case Report, Asian JPharm Clin Res, Published, 2018
• Distinguishing Adverse Drug Reactions, the Noxious Effects of Medicines at a Tertiary Care Hospital, International Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation, Published, 01/2018
• Assessment of Adverse Drug Reactions Associated with Antihypertensive Agents and Antibiotics at a Tertiary Care Hospital, Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Health Care, Published, 2018

Immunotherapeutic and Biotechnology Graduate Student Association (IBGSA), Vice-president, 05/2023 - 12/2023 Immunotherapeutic and Biotechnology Graduate Student Association (IBGSA), President, 12/2023 - 05/2024 Immunotherapeutic and Biotechnology Graduate Student Association (IBGSA), Secretary, 05/2024 - Present Student Government Association (SGA), Senator, 01/2022 - Present Research Advisory Committee (RAC), Graduate Student Liaison, 08/2024 - Present

• Abilene Interdisciplinary Symposium on Cancer & Biomedical Research, 08/2024
• Complosome regulates cancer cell proliferation via mTORC1 signalling, 04/2023
• 8th Asian association of schools of pharmacy conference 2017, JSS College, Mysore, 10/2017
• 3rd annual conference on Gynaecologic Oncology and Preventive Oncology’’, Chicago, USA, 07/2017
• Abstract accepted at ISPOR 22nd annual international conference held in Boston, USA, 05/2017
• Oncology-2: Haematology, blood cancer module 10” held at Hotel Grand Margate, Bangalore, 11/2016
• 66th Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Conference, Hyderabad, India, 01/2015