Team
PI: Dr. Fazal Adnan
PhD. Doctor
Dr. Fazal Adnan is the PI of the AntiBacter lab group and oversees all the research projects. He has a PhD in Molecular Microbiology from University of Giessen, Germany and is currently working as an associate professor and Head of Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology at NUST Islamabad. He is involved in various international collaborations for research projects relevant to AMR and infectious microbiology. These include working with the Phage Technology Center at ZHAW in Switzerland, as well as different phage therapy research groups in the US, Germany and China. He is also part of the global One Health initiative and works in collaboration with FDA, Helmholtz Germany and ZHAW Switzerland for control of various AMR infections in Pakistan. Moreover, he is the founder and CEO of Zoonotica and PhageoteX. Zoonotica offers services and solutions to bacterial infections using the ‘One Health’ approach. PhageoteX offers services relevant to phage therapies, including the development of customized phage therapies. In addition, his research group is also working on different novel antibacterial strategies like antimicrobial peptides, quorum quenching and CRISPR/CAS based strategies against pathogenic bacteria.
Research Project Partners and Collaborators
Prof. George Jores
Research Partner
Prof. Jores is our project partner in the zhaw Leading Houe Switzerland Research grant on Phage therapy. He is Director of Institute for Veterinary Bacteriology, at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn.
Prof. Katharina Schaufler
Research Partner
Prof. Schaufler is our project partner in the bacterial zoonosis project. She is working at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health, University of Greifswald, Germany.
Dr. Ewelina Malecka
Research Partner
Dr. Ewelina is our collaborator in AMR projects. She is Head of the Laboratory of Single-Molecule at the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, Poland.
Prof. Lars Fiesler
Research Partner
Prof. Fieseler is our project partner in the zhaw Leading Houe Switzerland Research grant on Phage therapy. He is head of the Microbiology Department at the Institute for Food and Beverage Innovation (ILGI) at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) Switzerland.
PhD Students
Sidrah Hafeez
PhD Student
Sidrah Hafeez is a current PhD scholar at NUST. Her research domain involves antimicrobial therapeutics and drug design, with a strong focus on novel antibacterial strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Hira Ikram
PhD Student
Hira is a dynamic PhD scholar at NUST. Her research project unfolds three bold objectives: isolating and identifying ESKAPE pathogens in Punjab’s drinking water; exploring and comparing resistance and virulence genes from water isolates against human and bovine sources; and unraveling the transmission of these genes.
Gulnaz
PhD Student
Gulnaz is currently a PhD scholar at NUST. Her research involves examining the zoonotic potential and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of bovine mastitis causing Staphylococcus aureus.
Hira NAz
PhD Student
Hira Niaz is a current PhD scholar at NUST. Her research focuses on bacteriophages, specifically their therapeutic and prophylactic applications to treat and prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs).
MS Students
Abeera Raja
MS Student
Abeera Raja is a master’s student at NUST. She is currently studying the role of adhesion genes of MDR Staphylococcus aureus in Host Switching Mechanism.
Sumaira Shoukat
MS Student
Sumaira Shoukat is a current master’s student at NUST. She is exploring the synergistic interaction between biochar and soil bacterial communities, to develop a sustainable approach for soil health improvement.
Kanwal Zahra
MS Student
Kanwal Zahra is a master’s student at NUST. Her research focuses on the potential contamination of dengue spray in sewage water-irrigated vegetables and its impact on the microbial community.
Mustafa Naeem
MS Student
Mustafa Naeem Khan is an MS Industrial Biotechnology student at NUST. His research focuses on formulating a topical phage-based ointment using polyethylene glycol (PEG) for treating Staphylococcus aureus-mediated wound infections.
Usama
MS Student
Usama is a current master’s student at NUST. His research focuses on isolating bacteriophages from wastewater sources on dairy farms to develop phage therapies against bovine mastitis.
Muhammad Khan
MS Student
Muhammad Khan is MS graduate in Industrial Biotechnology from ASAB, NUST. His research focused on bacteriophage therapy, phage-host interactions, and co-evolutionary experiments to tackle antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. He worked extensively on phage training experiments, and was actively involved in whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatic analysis of both phages and bacterial strains.
Aqsa Ahsan
Research Associate
Aqsa has completed her master’s degree in Biological Sciences at Michigan Technological University under a Fulbright Scholarship. Currently, she is working at the AntiBacter lab as a Research Associate in the project “Therapeutic phage cocktails to combat colibacillosis in poultry”.
Muhammad
Software Engineer
Waseem is a Software Engineer and CEO of Syntax Talents. M. Waseem develop and manage all of our technical softwares and development sector.
Tooba Tahir
Research Associate
Tooba is a PhD scholar at NUST with a research focus on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and peptide-based therapeutics. Her work involves the design of synthetic antibiofilm peptides targeting ESKAPE pathogens. She is dedicated to advancing biotechnological solutions for combating drug-resistant infections and improving global health outcomes.
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