Maria
Pittsburgh,USA
Summary
Research scientist with 12+ years of experience in research including gene therapy, immunotherapy, viral and non-viral vectors, drug delivery, and cancer targeting therapy which led to 30+ publications and securing research grants.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work History
Research scientist
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, USA
01.2022 - Current
- Company Overview: Current Job: https://www.immunology.pitt.edu/people
- I am working as lead on the project of Lymphocyte activation gene (LAG3) which is an important inhibitory receptor and major immunotherapy target in cancer research
- The data I generated led to the high percentile fundable score of NIH R01 grant
- Moreover, our manuscript from part of this data, has got accepted in cutting edge journal of immunology
- I worked as a lead on the project that focuses on understanding the effects of structure-based mutation on TCR-CD3 assembly, cell surface expression, signaling, and T cell development and function
- Data from this work is ready to be submitted in high impact factor journal
- I am also engineering different CAR-T cells and optimizing in vitro experiments
- I am also working on establishing cd4+Tconv mouse model utilizing extensive cloning, and retroviral transduction
- Current Job: https://www.immunology.pitt.edu/people
Assistant Professor
Northern Border University
09.2016 - 05.2021
- I worked as an assistant professor
- I extensively worked on gene delivery, drug delivery and immunotherapeutic independently as well as in collaborations
- I was awarded 3 research grants as principal investigator and was a co-principal investigator in three other projects
Doctoral Fellow
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
09.2011 - 02.2016
- As a doctoral fellow, I developed solid research skill and contributed to the nanotechnology, controlled drug delivery and pharmaceutical field
- My major scientific contributions were;
- Penetration and Silencing Activity of VEGF Dicer Substrate siRNA Vectorized by Chitosan Nanoparticles in Monolayer Culture and a Solid Tumor Model In Vitro for Potential Application in Tumor Therapy
- Physicochemical Properties and In Vitro Cytotoxicity Studies of Chitosan as Potential Carrier for Dicer-Substrate siRNA
- Comparative characterization and cytotoxicity study of TAT-peptide as potential vectors for siRNA and Dicer-substrate siRNA
- Stability, intracellular delivery, and release of siRNA from chitosan nanoparticles using different cross-linkers
- Topical Temperature-sensitive Gel Containing DsiRNA-chitosan Nanoparticles for Potential Treatment of Skin Cancer
- Design, mechanism, delivery and therapeutics of canonical and Dicer-substrate siRNA
Education
Ph.D. - Cancer Therapeutics, Drug Delivery and Gene therapy
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (The National University of Malaysia)
11.2015
Doctor of Pharmacy - PharmD - Pharmacy
University of Sargodha
04.2012
Skills
- Immunotherapy
- Gene therapy
- Drug delivery
- Cancer Therapeutics
- Viral/Non-viral vectors
- In vitro and In vivo Studies
Personal Information
Title: Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Awards
- Best poster prize, 2013, Eighth Indochina Conference on Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Best poster prize, 2014, Controlled release & drug delivery symposium, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Best poster prize, 2018, DUPHAT, Dubai
Importantlinks
https://www.immunology.pitt.edu/people, https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-abdul-ghafoor-raja-pharm-d-ph-d-047317ab, https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C39&q=maria+abdul+ghafoor+raja&oq=maria+abdul
Timeline
Research scientist
University of Pittsburgh
01.2022 - Current
Assistant Professor
Northern Border University
09.2016 - 05.2021
Doctoral Fellow
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
09.2011 - 02.2016
Doctor of Pharmacy - PharmD - Pharmacy
University of Sargodha
Ph.D. - Cancer Therapeutics, Drug Delivery and Gene therapy
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (The National University of Malaysia)