Research Interest

• Investigating the underlying biochemical, and molecular mechanisms implicated in complex diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and schizophrenia, aiming to pinpoint potential therapeutic targets for intervention.
   
• Uncovering the role of Non-coding RNA in cancer pathogenesis, with a particular emphasis on their utility in diagnosis and therapeutic development.
   
• Exploring the involvement of transcribed ultra-conserved regions in the pathology of schizophrenia to uncover potential insights into disease mechanisms and therapeutic strategies.
   
• Identifying FDA-approved drugs with potential for repurposing against gliomas and colorectal cancer, with the goal of advancing therapeutic options for these malignancies.

Click here to view my CV

 

 

Research Publications

• Hanif F*, Amir Q, Washdev W. Effect of DIO2 Gene Polymorphism on Thyroid Hormone Levels and Its Correlation with the Severity of Schizophrenia in a Pakistani Population. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Feb 5;25(3):1915.

 

• Bibi I, Hanif F*, Amir Q, Washdev W, Bari MF. Impact of Brain derived Neurotrophic factor gene polymorphism on its peripheral levels in schizophrenic patients. J Pak Med Assoc. 2024 Feb;74(1 (Supple-2)): S19-S24.

 

• Saad S, Hanif F*, Simjee SU, Faizi S, Khan L, Ashfaque A. Modulation of Apoptotic and Akt/PI3K/mTOR pathways to target Glioblastoma Cells using synthetic compound PGEA-AN. J Pak Med Assoc. 2024 Feb;74(1 (Supple-2)): S39-S46.

 

• Haque Z, Hanif F, Owais M. AI in biomedical research: unleashing the potential of a transformative partnership. J Pak Med Assoc. 2024 Feb;74(1 (Supple-2)): S1

 

• Zubair M, Khan S, Ali A, Hanif F, Abbas U, Ahmed B, Mehmood S, Khan F. Association of Vitamin D Gene Receptor Polymorphism with Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women. Molecular Medicine Communications. 2023 Dec 29;3(02):139-48.

 

• Hanif F, Zhang Y, Collin D, Gibert K, Saha S, Hudson K, Marcinkiewicz P, kefas B, Guessous F, and Abounader. miR-3174 is a new tumor suppressor microRNA that inhibits several oncogenes in glioblastoma. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 May 26;24(11):9326.

 

• Haque Z, Hanif F, Owais M, Siddiqui S. 1st International conference on biomedical sciences, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan. JPMA. 2023 June; 73 (6).

 

• Gibert Jr MK, Sarkar A, Chagari B, Roig-Laboy C, Saha S, Bednarek S, Kefas B, Hanif F, Hudson K, Dube C, Zhang Y, Abounader R. Transcribed Ultraconserved Regions in Cancer. Cells. 2022 May;11(10).

 

• Noor T, Kiran Z, Ali A, Syed B S, Hanif F*. Corelation of copeptin with osmolarity and electrolytes in diabetes Mellitus: A tertiary center outpatient experience. International Journal of Endorsing Health Science Research. 2022; 10 (2), 157-166. Doi: 10.29052/IJEHSR.v10. i2.2022.157-166.

 

• Hussain IS, Noor T, Amir Q, Washdev W, Hanif F*. Prevalence of misconceptions and presentation of covid-19 post-vaccination symptoms among health care workers of Karachi, Pakistan. JPPS. 31 Oct 2022. 19(2).

 

• Javed L, Hanif F*, Malhi SM, Zaman U, Jahan N, Amir Q, Javed A, Malik AB, Abrar H. Diclofenac sodium enhances the antiepileptic effect of levetiracetam in pilocarpine induced epileptic mice model. Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2021 Sep 1;34(5 (Supplementary)):1969-74. (Corresponding author) (IF=0.6).  (Y Category)

 

• Javed A, Malik A, Amir Q.- ul-A, Hanif F*, Washdev W, & Jawed L. Glutamate ionotropic receptor AMPA type subunit 1 gene polymorphism (Gly>Ser) and its association with schizophrenia in Pakistani population: A pilot Study. International Journal of Endorsing Health Science Research. 2021. (IJEHSR), 9(4), 466-473. https://doi.org/10.29052/IJEHSR.v9.i4.2021.466-473.

 

• Ashfaque A, Hanif F*, Simjee SU, Bari MF, Faizi S, Zehra S, Mirza T, Begum S, Khan L. Opuntiol Inhibits Growth, and Induces Apoptosis in Human Glioblastoma Cells by Upregulating Active Caspase 3 Expression. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention: APJCP. 2021 Nov 1;22(11):3607-13.

 

• QuratulAin, Hanif F*, Amar WD, Bilwani F, Simjee SU. Synonymous polymorphism rs201256011 in Dopamine receptor type 2 gene is associated with schizophrenia in Pakistani population: A First Report. Int J Clin Pract. 2020; e13536. doi:10.1111/ijcp.13536).

 

• Noor T, Hanif F* , Kiran Z, Rehman R, Haque Z, Nankani K. Relation of Copeptin with Diabetic and Renal Function Markers Among Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Progressing Towards Diabetic Nephropathy. Arch Med Res. 2020; S0188-4409(20)30306-4. doi:10.1016/j.arcmed.2020.05.018.

 

• Hanif F*, Quratul Ain Amir, Amar WD, Bilwani F, Shabana SU. A novel variant in dopamine receptor type 2 gene is associated with schizophrenia. Arch Med Res. 2020; 10:S0188-4409(20)30623-8.

 

• Aziz A, Hanif F, Majeed S,   Iftikhar K, Simjee SU (2019). N-(2-hydroxyphenyl) acetamide (NA-2) elicits potent antitumor effect against human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Toxicol in Vitro 60: 296-304.

 

• Chaudhry, Hanif F, Kausar S. (2019). Molecular Signatures of Calpain 10 Isoforms Sequences, Envisage Functional Similarity and Therapeutic Potential. Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 32(3):937-946.10p.

 

• Hanif F, Perveen K, Malhi SM, Jawed H, Simjee SU (2018). Verapamil potentiates anti-glioblastoma efficacy of temozolomide by modulating apoptotic signaling.  Toxicol in Vitro S0887-2333(18)30343-6.

 

• Hanif F, Muzaffar K, Perveen K, Malhi SM, Simjee ShU. (2017). Glioblastoma Multiforme: A Review of its Epidemiology and Pathogenesis through Clinical Presentation and Treatment. Asia Pacific journal of Cancer Prevention 18(1):3-9.

 

• Hagiwara Y, Sieverling L, Hanif F, Anton J, Dickinson ER, Bui TT, Andreeva A, Barran PE, Cota E and Nikolova PV. (2016). Consequences of point mutations in melanoma-associated antigen 4 (MAGE-A4) protein in human cancers: Insights from structural and biophysical studies. Scientific Reports (npg) 6:25182

 

• Hanif F, Perveen K, Jawed H, Ahmed A, Malhi SM, Jamall S and Simjee SU (2014) N-(2-hydroxyphenyl) acetamide (NA-2) and Temozolomide synergistically induce apoptosis in human glioblastoma cell line U87. Cancer Cell International. 14(1): 133.

 

• Perveen K, Hanif F, Jawed H, Jamall S and Simjee SU (2014) N-(2-hydroxy phenyl) acetamide: a novel suppressor of Toll-like receptors (TLR-2 and TLR-4) in adjuvant-induced arthritic rats. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. 394(1-2): 67-75.

 

• Malhi SM, Jawed H, Hanif F, Ashraf N, Zubair F, Siddiqui BS, Begum S, Kabir N and Simjee SU (2014) Modulation of c-Fos and BDNF protein expression in pentylenetetrazole-kindled mice following the treatment with novel antiepileptic compound HHL-6. Biomed Research International.2014: 876712

 

• Jawed H, Shah SUA, Jamall S, Perveen K, Hanif F, and Simjee SU(2014) N-(2-hydroxy phenyl) acetamide produces profound inhibition of c-Fos protein and mRNA expression in the brain of adjuvant-induced arthritic rats. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. 2014:387.

 

• Hanif F, Perveen K, Jawed H, and Simjee SU (2013) In vitro growth inhibition of u87 glioblastoma cells by N-(2- hydroxy phenyl) acetamide. International Journal of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences.3 (4): 69 - 78.

 

• Perveen K, Hanif F, Jawed H, and Simjee SU (2013) Protective efficacy of N-(2-hydroxyphenyl) acetamide against adjuvant -induced arthritis (AIA) in rats. Biomed Research International.2013: 635143.

 

• Danish Saleheen et al. (2009) The Pakistan Risk of Myocardial Infarction Study: a bio resource for study of genetic and other determinants of myocardial infarction in South Asia. European Journal of Epidemiology. 24(6):329-38.

 

 

ABSTRACTS PUBLISHED IN IMPACT FACTOR JOURNALS

 

• Dube C, Zhang Y, Saha S, Lai M, Gibert M, Escalante M, Mulcahy E, Ottolini M, Hudson K,  Bednarek S, Hanif F, Xu E, Sorot A, Sonkusare S, Sontheimer H, Abounader R (2022). T-type calcium channels drive glioblastoma growth by promoting neuronal interactions. Neuro-Oncology. Volume 24, Issue Supplement_7.
  
   
• T Noor, MT Khan, Hanif F*, Z Kiran, AA Baloch (2020). Detection of serum copeptin levels in diabetic patients to evaluate progressive nephropathy. NEPHROLOGY.25, 39-39.

 

• T Noor, MT Khan, Hanif F*, Z Kiran, AA Baloch, Rehman R. (2020)Correlation of vasopressin with serum electrolytes in diabetes mellitus patients progressing towards diabetic nephropathy. NEPHROLOGY.25, 38-39.

 

• Hanif F, Perveen K and Simjee SU (2016). Verapamil potentiates temozolomide anticancer efficacy through the intrinsic apoptotic pathway in brain cancer cells. Front. Cell. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: 14th Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry. doi: 10.3389/conf.fncel.2016.36.00190.

 

• Hanif F, Perveen K, and Simjee SU (2016). Calcium channel blocker increases the anticancer activity of temozolomide by inhibiting autocrine VEGF signaling, Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods. 81, 350 doi.org/10.1016/j.vascn.2016.02.051.

 

• Chaudhry B, Alia A, Mah-e-Nu M, Hanif F (2016). Serum 25-Hydroxy vitamin D levels and Metabolic Health Status in Obese individuals in Pakistan. Surgery for obesity and related diseases. 12 (7): S205. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2016.08.357

 

• Simjee SU, Perveen K, Hanif F, Jawed H, and Jamall S (2015). Therapeutic activity of N-(2-hydroxy phenyl) acetamide: a novel anti-arthritic agent on pro-inflammatory cytokines production and suppression of Toll-like receptors (TLR-2 and TLR-4) in adjuvant-induced arthritic rats. The FASEB Journal 2015 29:1_supplement.

 

• Hanif F, Perveen K and Simjee SU (2014)N-(2-hydroxy phenyl) acetamide induces apoptosis of brain cancer cells by increasing Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods.70 (1): 321.

 

• Perveen K, Hanif Fand Simjee SU (2014) Expression of toll-like receptor (TLR4) in splenocytes and its inhibition by N-(2-hydroxy phenyl) acetamide in adjuvant induce arthritic rat model (AIA). Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods.70 (1): 322.

Others

Invited Speaker:

• Titled “MicroRNA-3174 Suppresses Glioblastoma through Downregulation of Several Oncogenes at 8th International symposium-cum-training course on Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (MMDR-8) organized by Dr. Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research at International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, November 27 – 30, 2023.

 

• Titled “Noncoding RNA: Redefining the central dogma of cancer biology”. On the anniversary of Pakistan Physiological Society at Department of Physiology, University of Karachi, Pakistan. 15th April 2023.

 

• Titled “miR-3174 acts as a tumor suppressor in gliomas by targeting multiple oncogenes”. At International Conference on the Biomedical Sciences, Dow University of Health Sciences. 20th -21st March 2023.

 

• Titled “Preclinical screening methods in neuro-oncology: An in vitro approach” 6th International Conference on Endorsing Health Sciences Research, Pre-Conference Workshop on Basics of Neuropharmacological Screening organized by Department of Pharmacology, DOW College of Pharmacy, DUHS. 31st March 2018.

 

PARTICIPATION OUTSIDE COUNTRY:

Workshop/Courses/ Conferences

• Data Preparation, Visualization and Wrangling in R at University of Virginia, USA, March 2022
• Post-Procedure Care of Mice and Rats in Research: Minimizing Pain and Distress, at University of Virginia, USA, December 2021
• Working with the Laboratory Mouse at University of Virginia, USA, December 2021.

 

• Farina Hanif. “The effects of morphine on activity of lateral paragigantocellularis (PGI) Nucleus in naïve and morphine dependent rats.” In IBRO APRC advance school of Neuroscience, Tehran Iran, April 29-May 11, 2017.
• Federation of European Neuroscience Society: Advance training course in “Glial Cells in Health and Disease” at Bordeaux France, November 27- December 16, 2016.
• Basic Techniques in Vitro Neural Differentiation from Stem Cells, University of Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. Aug 22-26, 2016.

• Farina Hanif, Kahkashan Perveen, Shabana U Simjee. Titled “Verapamil potentiates temozolomide anticancer efficacy through the intrinsic apoptotic pathway in brain cancer cells”. Poster Presented at 14th Meeting of Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Aug 27-30th 2016.

• Farina Hanif, Kahkashan Perveen, Saima Mahmood Malhi, Shabana U Simjee. “Calcium Channel Blocker Increases the Anticancer Activity of Temozolomide by Inhibiting Autocrine VEGF Signaling”. Presented at 15th Annual Meeting of Safety Pharmacology Society, Prague, Czech Republic, Sep 28th - 01st Oct 2015.

• Farina Hanif, Kahkashan Perveen and Shabana Usman Simjee. “Synergistic effect of Verapamil and Temozolomide on growth inhibition of brain cancer cells”, 1st Annual KCL Neuroscience symposium, London, United Kingdom. Mar 8th, 2014.

• Farina Hanif, Kahkashan Perveen and Shabana Usman Simjee. “N-(2- hydroxy phenyl) acetamide induces apoptosis of brain cancer cells by increasing Bax/Bcl-2 ratio” presented at 13th Annual Safety Pharmacology Society meeting, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Sep 15th-20th, 2013.

• Farina Hanif. NA-2 inhibits Glioblastoma Cell proliferation by down-regulating VEGF expression”. In International Conference on Women in Science and Technology in the Arab countries, held in Kuwait, April 21-23, 2013.
   
• IBRO School of Neurosciences, Organized by International Brain Research Organization on Nov 19 to 30, 2012 at Monash University, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Malaysia
   
• 2nd Tehran IBRO School of Neurosciences, Molecular, Electrophysiological and Behavioral Approaches, Organized by International Brain Research Organization on May 12 to 23, 2012 at Institute of Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM) and Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran.

• Farina Hanif. The Effects of Novel Antiproliferative Compound NA-2 In Combination, With Temozolomide on Human Glioblastoma Cells” in 3rd International NeuroMalaysia conference, Malaysia 2012.
   
• Farina Hanif, Saima Mehmood Malhi; Huma Jawed; Nadeem Ashraf; Farhat, Sabira Begum and Shabana. U. Simjee “HHL-6 down-regulates BDN expression in PTZ-induced kindling model of epilepsy in mice” poster presented at Neuroscience School organized by International Brain Research Organization (IBRO-APRC School Neurosciences) Tehran, Iran. May 12 to 23, 2012. 

• International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) APRC School of Neurosciences, 9-19 Oct 2011, at Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.

 

GRANTS:

Extramural grants:

 

In vitro modulation of WNT signaling pathway and its associated molecules in glioblastoma stem cells to combat therapeutic resistance and tumor relapse”.

           Position: Principal Investigator.

           Funding Agency: Pakistan Science Foundation

           Project Duration: 2023-2025

           Status: Approved

 

To explore the repurposing potential of FDA approved carbonic anhydrase II inhibitors in the treatment of Brain Cancers.

            Position: Principal Investigator.

            Funding Agency: International Brain Research Organization

            Project Duration: 2021-2022

            Status: Concluded

 

To investigate the potential contribution of thyroid hormone levels and DIO2 gene polymorphism in pathophysiology of Schizophrenia and implication in therapeutic strategies.

           Position: Principal Investigator.

           Funding Agency: Higher Education commission Pakistan under NRPU program.

           Project Duration: 2017-2018

           Status: Concluded

 

Anticancer effect of compounds from medicinal plants Versus standard drug temozolomide on drug resistant glioblastoma cells.

          Position: Principal Investigator.

          Funding Agency: Startup Research Grant, Higher Education commission Pakistan

          Project Duration: 2017-2018

          Status: Concluded

 

Modulation and transplantation of umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells using different protocol to target Alzheimer’s disease: a comparative and therapeutic study.

          Position: Co-principal Investigator.

          Funding Agency: Higher Education commission Pakistan under NRPU program.

          Project Duration: 2022-2024

          Status: Approved

 

Development of Raloxifene-loaded self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) with enhanced bioavailability potential: A therapeutic implication in osteoporosis.

           Position: Co-principal Investigator.

           Funding Agency: Higher Education commission Pakistan under NRPU program.

           Project Duration: 2022-2024

           Status: Approved

 

Intramural Grants:

 

Differential expression of transcribed ultra conserved regions (TUCRS) in schizophrenia and their potential utility as biomarker.

          Position: Principal Investigator

          Funding Agency: Vice Chancellor’s seed funding initiative, DUHS

          Project Duration: 2023-2026

          Status: Approved

 

Investigating Serum Levels of miR-4768-3p, miR-4722-5p and miR-5680 as Potential Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease.

           Position: Co Principal Investigator

           Funding Agency: Vice Chancellor’s seed funding initiative, DUHS

           Project Duration: 2023-2024

           Status: Awarded

 

Modulation of apoptotic and AKT/PI3K/mTOR signaling pathways in glioblastoma Cells using small Molecules.

           Position: Principal Investigator

           Funding Agency: Vice Chancellor’s seed funding initiative, DUHS

           Project Duration: 2020-2021.

           Status: Concluded

 

Impact of Brain-derived Neurotrophic factor gene polymorphism on its peripheral levels in schizophrenic patients.

           Position: Principal Investigator

           Funding Agency: Vice Chancellor’s seed funding initiative, DUHS

           Project Duration: 2019-2020

           Status: Concluded

 

Targeting expression of inflammatory markers in cortex and hippocampus of epileptic mice treated with novel drug combination.

           Position: Principal Investigator

           Funding Agency: DUHS

           Project Duration: 2019-2020

           Status: Concluded

 

Effects of Modified Human Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Animal Model of Alzheimer’s disease, A Preclinical Study.

          Position: Co-Principal Investigator

          Funding Agency: Vice Chancellor’s seed funding initiative, DUHS

          Project Duration: 2021-2023

          Status: Concluded

 

Grants to Organize Conferences and Workshops:

 

Conference: 1st International Conference on Biomedical Sciences (CONBIOMEDICA 2023)

Position: Chair Scientific Committee and Conference Secretary.

Funding Agency: Sindh Higher Education Commission,

Project Duration: March 20th -21st, 2023.

 

TEACHING:

• I teach both undergraduate and postgraduate courses related to Molecular Biology, Cell biology, Pharmacogenomics and Biochemistry.

 

THESIS SUPERVISED

M.Phil. Thesis Supervised           

 

Project: Targeting cell cycle machinery and apoptotic signalling of glioblastoma cells for therapeutic purpose

           Role: Primary Supervisor

           Name of Student: Dr. Kanwal Naz

           Subject: Physiology

           Status: Completed

            Year: 2023

 

Project: Protective effect of Vitamin C against radiation induced inflammatory changes in Parotid glands of Guinea pigs

           Role: Primary Supervisor

           Name of Student: Dr. Amir Ahmed Ansari

           Subject: Anatomy

           Status: Completed

            Year: 2023

 

Project: Impact of Brain-derived Neurotrophic factor gene polymorphism on its peripheral levels in schizophrenic patients.

           Role: Primary Supervisor

           Name of Student: Dr. Irshad Bibi

           Subject: Physiology

           Status: Completed

           Year: 2022

 

 

Project: Detection of serum copeptin levels in diabetic patients to evaluate progressive nephropathy

          Role: Primary Supervisor

          Name of Student: Dr. Tooba Noor

          Subject: Physiology

          Status: Completed

          Year: 2021

 

Modulation of apoptotic and AKT/PI3K/mTOR signaling pathways in glioblastoma cells using small Molecules.

           Role: Primary Supervisor

           Name of Student: Dr. Shafea Saad

           Subject: Physiology

           Status: Completed

            Year: 2022

 

Project: In-vitro modulation of human glioblastoma cells using natural compounds.

           Role: Primary Supervisor

           Name of Student: Dr. Ambreen Mehran

           Subject: Physiology

           Status: Completed

           Year: 2022

 

Project: Dopamine receptor type 2 (DRD2) gene polymorphism in schizophrenic patients visiting a tertiary care hospital in Karachi.

          Role: Primary Supervisor

          Name of Student: Ms. Quratulain

          Subject: Physiology

          Status: Completed

          Year: 2020

 

 

Project: Association of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphism with osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

           Role: Primary Supervisor

           Name of Student: Dr. Zubair Ahmed

           Subject: Physiology

           Status: Completed

           Year: 2019

 

BS THESIS SUPERVISED

 

Project: Targeting expression of inflammatory markers in cortex and hippocampus of epileptic mice treated with novel drug combination.

           Role: Primary Supervisor

           Name of Student: Ms. Lalarukh Jawed

           Subject: Biotechnology

           Status: Completed

           Year: 2019

 

Ph.D. Thesis Under Supervision

 

Project: Modulation of WNT signaling pathway and its associated molecules to inhibit growth and invasion of glioblastoma stem cells using drug repurposing approach.

           Role: Primary Supervisor

           Name of Student: Dr. Sahar Mubeen

           Subject: Anatomy

           Status: In progress

 

Project: Targeting neuro-sphere derived Glioblastoma Stem cells to combat relapse and drug resistance in glioblastoma.

           Role: Primary Supervisor

           Name of Student: Dr. Iffat Raza

           Subject: Anatomy

           Status: In progress

 

Project: Investigating potential biomarkers and molecular methods to improve diagnosis of viral meningitis.

            Role: Primary Supervisor

            Name of Student: Dr. Saima Naseem

            Subject: Microbiology

            Status: In progress

 

Project: Modulation and Transplantation of Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells using different protocols to target Alzheimer Disease: A Comparative and Therapeutic Study

           Role: Co-Supervisor

           Name of Student: Dr. Mahrukh Qasim

           Subject: Anatomy

           Status: In progress

 

Project: Investigating the Molecular link between Diabetes Mellitus and Alzheimer’s Disease

           Role: Co-Supervisor

           Name of Student: Dr. Tehniat Faraz Ahmed

           Subject: Biochemistry

           Status: In progress

 

HONORS & ACHIEVEMENTS:

Scholarships

• Fulbright fellowship to conduct post-doctoral research at the University of Virginia, USA from Nov-2021 to Nov 2022

• Fully funded (Dec 2013 - Jun 2014) scholarship from Higher Education Commission, Pakistan, under the “International Research Support Initiative Program” to gain research training and experience at King’s College London, University of London.
     
• Professor SM. Hamid Ali Scholarship (2011 – 2014) from International Center for chemical and biological sciences, University of Karachi to pursue Ph.D. at Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research.

 

Special Awards

• Students’ choice Certificate of Excellence for outstanding teaching performance from QEC, DUHS. 2018.

 

• Special cash prize at 5th all Pakistan DUHS-DICE Health innovation Exhibition

              2019 on October 16th-17th for project “X-INFECT.”

• Special cash prize at 4th all Pakistan DUHS-DICE Health innovation Exhibition 2018 on October 12th-13th. for project “Ethidium bromide gel filter.”

 

Travel Awards: 

 

• Received Travel awards from following organizations to attend different courses/workshops/conferences.

• IBRO: IBRO APRC Advance School of Neuroscience and Oral presentation at Tehran, Iran. April 29 to May 11, 2017

• Federation of European Neuroscience Society: Advance training course in “Glial Cells in Health and Disease” at Bordeaux France, November 27- December 16, 2016.

• International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN) and Asia Pacific Society for Neurochemistry (APSN): Oral presentation in 14th Meeting of Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Aug 27-30th 2016. (Junior Investigator travel award)

• Safety Pharmacology Society (USA): Oral presentation at 13th Safety pharmacology society meeting at Rotterdam, Netherlands, Sep 15-20th 2013.

• Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR), TWAS and, OWSD: Oral presentation at International Conference on women in science and technology in the Arab Countries at KISR, Kuwait. April 21 to 23, 2013

• IBRO: IBRO School of Neuroscience at Selangor, Malaysia. Nov 17 to 30, 2012            

• IBRO: IBRO School of Neuroscience and present and poster presentation in Tehran, Iran. May 12 to 23, 2012

• IBRO: IBRO   School of Neuroscience and Oral presentation in Beijing, China. Oct9-19th, 2011.

 

Best Oral/Poster Presentation Awards 

 

• Titled “Targeting expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha and its downstream targets in human glioblastoma cells using combination therapy approach” oral presentation at 2nd PROBE conference on molecules to mechanism, Department of Physiology, University of Karachi, 7th -9th January 2020.

 

• Titled “Electrophysiology and neuroscience” Oral presentation at IBRO school of Neuroscience, Beijing, China. Oct 9-19th, 2011.

 

• Tooba Noor and Farina Hanif (corresponding author). Titled “Copeptin: A potential biomarker in diabetic patients progressing towards diabetic nephropathy” poster presentation at 17th Pakistan Endocrine Society Conference organized by Pakistan Endocrine Society, at Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi, 15-17th November 2019.

 

• Qurat-ul-Ain Amir and Farina Hanif (Corresponding Author). Titled “Association of Dopamine Receptor Type 2 gene variant (Ser311Cys) with schizophrenia in Pakistani population: a case-control study”, Poster presentation at 5th Annual Neuroscience Conference held at Aga Khan University, Karachi, organized by Pakistan Society of Basic and Applied Neuroscience and Aga Khan University, Karachi 14-15 September 2019.

 

• Farina Hanif, Kahkashan Perveen, Shabana U Simjee. Titled “Verapamil potentiates temozolomide anticancer efficacy through the intrinsic apoptotic pathway in brain cancer cells”. Poster Presented at 14th Meeting of Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Aug 27-30th 2016.

 

• Farina Hanif, Saima Mehmood Malhi; Huma Jawed; Nadeem Ashraf; Farhat, Sabira Begum and Shabana. U. Simjee “HHL-6 down-regulates BDN expression in PTZ-induced kindling model of epilepsy in mice” poster presented at Neuroscience School organized by International Brain Research Organization (IBRO-APRC School Neurosciences) Tehran, Iran. May 12 to 23, 2012. 

 

SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL REVIEWER

• Scientific Reports (IF = 4.93)
• Cancer Cell International (IF 4.9)
• Drug Design, Development and Therapy (IF = 2.93)
• International Journal of clinical practice (IF= 2.6)
• IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (IF = 5.7)
• OncoTargets and Therapy (IF = 2.65)
• Cancer Management and Research (IF = 3.7)
• Medical Science Monitor (IF=1.9)
• Asia Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention (HEC approved, PubMed Indexed)
• Heliyon, (HEC approved, PubMed indexed)
• Journal of Pharmaceutics and drug development

               

MEMBER OF SCIENTIFIC SOCITIES

• International Brain Research Organization. (IBRO), Paris, France.

• International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN)
• Safety Pharmacology Society (SPS) USA.
• Organization for women in science for the developing world (OWSD)
• Pakistan Society of Basic and Applied Neuroscience (PSBAN).