Dr. Zeyaul Islam completed his Master’s (2006) from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) India, and worked on protein folding problem where he exploited biophysical techniques to understand the stages/intermediates during protein folding. On completion, he joined the protein crystallography lab under the supervision of Dr. Subramanian Karthikeyan at the Institute of Microbial Technology for his doctrate. During this period he worked on understanding the structure-function relationship of the enzymes of Riboflavin/FAD biosynthesis pathway from Vibrio cholerae and used it as a template for structure-based drug designing for the development of specific drugs (completed in 2012). As a postdoctoral researcher he had the opportunity to combine his MSc and PhD experiences; he worked on molecular chaperones (proteins that assist in protein folding) in IISER, Bhopal, India. He has worked on various aspect of co-chaperone Hsp40s and their cellular role in Hsp70/Hsp40 network using protein biochemistry and structural biology approaches.

Dr. Islam secured the FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship in 2015 and worked with Dr. Andre LB Ambrosio, LNBio, CNPEM, Brazil. His project was titled, “Biophysical and biochemical studies of the human glutaminases (important in cancer metabolism) in complex with novel binding partners”. He also explored supratetrameic form (filamentous) of glutaminases by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). He was also involved in human membrane protein characterization especially mitochondrial pyruvate carriers. He joined QBRI as a Postdoctoral Researcher in March, 2018.

Dr. Vijay Gupta received his Master’s degree in Microbiology from CCS University, Meerut, India and Ph.D. at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, INDIA (2006). Dr. Gupta was awarded ASCB pre-doctoral travel award to attend ASCB annual meeting in 2005, Carl Storm International Diversity Fellowship to attend the Gordon Research Conference in University of New England, Maine, USA 2006 and later on Royal Society International Incoming Fellowship (2006) from the Royal Society, London, UK to perform research at The University of Bristol where he worked for fifteen months with the honorary title of Royal Society International Research fellow. He joined The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA on Target Characterization Fellowship funded by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, USA as CF fellow for five years and then moved to University of California, San Diego as Assistant Project Scientist where he worked till June, 2017.

Dr. Gupta has multidisciplinary research experience in the fields of protein trafficking, cancer and human genetic diseases and has published more than fifteen publications including top-tier journals such as Nature Chemical biology, Developmental Cell, PNAS, JCS and Traffic. He is an invited member of Sigma Xi- Scientific Honor Society, elected 2013, invited member of Cell Stress Society International (CSSI), USA, peer review board member of JoVe and Dove press and has reviewed more than thirty manuscripts. One of the hobbies of Dr. Gupta is popular science writing for the general public, aimed at raising scientific awareness.

Dr. Olfa Khalifa obtained her Master’s degree in Biology of Vascular Diseases from the faculty of Pharmacy of Montasir in Tunisia, in 2012 and a PhD in Genetics and Immunology from the University of Montpellier in France in 2016. As part of her work towards her doctorate, Dr. Khalifa investigated the role of new genes in rheumatoid arthritis. She is skilled in many molecular and cellular biology techniques including real time PCR, sanger sequencing, miRNA profiling, ACS, ELISA, cell culture, microarray, and other basic molecular biology techniques. Her Ph.D. work has been published in peer-reviewed international journals.

Dr. Khalifa joined QBRI in 2018 and is currently working with Dr. Arredouani. She is working on a project that investigates the molecular mechanisms that underlie the positive effect of GLP-1 agonist on non-alchoholic fatty liver disease.

Dr. Mingzhan Xue obtained his Medical degree (Bachelor of Medicine), Master’s degree in Medical Genetics, and PhD in Medicine from the School of Medicine of Xi’an Jiaotong University (known as the Xi’an Medical University before 2000) in China. Between 1984 and 1999, he was appointed Assistant Professor, Lecturer, and Associate Professor in Medical Genetics at Xi’an Medical University, China. He also undertook postdoctoral positions at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, and Newcastle University and Queen Mary University of London in the UK. From 2006 to 2018, he worked as a research fellow at the University of Warwick in the UK.

Dr. Mariam Al-Muftah received her BSc in Medical Genetics (Honors) from the University of Wales in the United Kingdom in 2005 and pursued her post graduated education to complete a Master of Research (MRes) in Biological Sciences in 2007 and a PhD of Medicine (cancer immunotherapy) as a joint project between the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. Her PhD project was focused on the use of a fully autologous mouse model to study immune regulation towards 5T4 targeted immunotherapies. Furthermore, she focused on the generation of novel chimeric antigen receptors against the tumor associated antigen 5T4.

After completing her doctoral degree in 2011, she became a lecturer of Biology at Qatar University and was later promoted to the rank of Assistant Professor. In February 2012, she was seconded to Qatar Biomedical Research Institute as a scientist to pursue her research interest. Recently, she completed an executive master program in Strategic Business Unit Management from HEC Paris University in Qatar. Dr. Mariam has taught several courses in general biology and molecular biology at the department of Biological and Environmental Sciences.

Dr. Kyung Chul Shin received his Bachelor's in Biotechnology from Konkuk University, South Korea, which was followed by his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Medicine. His research at Konkuk University mainly focused on researching new ion channels (especially Piezo ion channel) related to tactile sensations, and explored a deeper understanding of patch-clamp technology, calcium imaging technology, and new ion channels that have yet to be discovered. 

Dr. Shin joined QBRI in 2020 as a post-doc at the Neurological Disorders Research Center. His current research aims to identify biomarkers in autism spectrum disorder with multifactor neurodevelopmental impairment. 

Dr. Shin’s work has appeared in journals such as Scientific Reports, Free Radical Research, and Clinical and Experimental Hypertension. 

Mahmoud Naas has been in the medical research field and academia for more than 30 years. .

He was previously  an associate professor at Qatar University’sCollege of Health Sciences, where he  developed and delivered a variety of courses. 

As a scientist, Professor Naas’ research activity is an integral part of his academic role; his research has generated several peer reviewed publications, as well as poster presentations at national and international conferences.

Geethakumari joined the College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS) as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Kabir Biswas in 2020. She completed her master's degree atAmrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, India, and a Master of Philosophy degree at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, India. 

Shethen earned her PhD from Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, where her work focused on identifying the signaling pathways modulated due to dengue virus infection of microvascular endothelial cells.

Dr. Ramesh Elango is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Qatar Biomedical Research Institute’s Translational Oncology Research Center. He earned his PhD from Bharathidasan University, India, where he researched the anti-atherogenic effects of epigallocatechin gallate from green tea. His work demonstrated that EGCG protects against oxidative damage, reduces inflammation, and regulates key genes involved in cholesterol metabolism. Dr. Ramesh Elango is an expert in advanced techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9-based functional genomics, RNA sequencing, and the profiling of microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). 

He later completed postdoctoral studies at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, where his work led to the discovery of a miRNA-based molecular signature associated with lymph node metastasis in breast cancer. His research focuses on pioneering cancer therapies and identifying novel molecular biomarkers. With over a decade of experience in cancer research, his contributions have been pivotal in identifying therapeutic targets in aggressive cancer subtypes, particularly triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). He emphasizes the translation of molecular discoveries into clinical applications. Dr. Elango has published over 30 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters, contributing significantly to the field of oncology.

Suad Salem Al-Dosari obtained her Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from Petra University in Amman, Jordan. She began her career at Hamad Medical Corporation in 2000, as a senior lab technologist at the Blood Bank. In 2014, she joined QBRI as Senior Research Associate with the Compliance Office. With 19 years of experience in both technical laboratory work and compliance work, she is currently a Quality Assurance Manager at QBRI.