Nishat Zareen Khair, PhD
Level: 5
Kha-224 Merul Badda
Dhaka 1212. Bangladesh
Dr. Nishat Zareen Khair has started her academic career as a lecturer in the department of Pharmacy, BRAC University, in June 2012. She is currently working as an Assistant Professor at BRAC University School of Pharmacy. Dr. Nishat has completed her Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the School of Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, for which she has received the prestigious University Presidential Scholarship in 2017. Soon after completion of her Ph.D., she has received the APR internship award to conduct research at Aucentra Therapeutics Pty. Ltd., which was fully funded by the Australian Government. She is also an MRACI (Member of the Royal Australian Chemical Society) and a member of the American Chemical Society.
Dr. Nishat has completed her MSc. in Drug Discovery, from the University College London (UCL), School of Pharmacy, London, UK in 2011 and worked as a research assistant in a protein company called Generon Pvt Ltd, UK, where she worked for the development of an immunoaffinity spin column for the purification of proteins. Prior to that she has completed Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honors) from the University of Asia Pacific. She has consistently been active in her research and presented her work in the UniSA PMB symposium and the RACI Synthesis Symposium; she also attended the Society of Medicine Research, (smr) meeting in London, UK. She has authored multiple scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals including the ACS Medicinal Chemistry letters and Future Medicinal Chemistry etc. As an academician, her main objective is to give back to her community by contributing to the development in the field of Health Sciences research and education for the betterment of mankind, and to have a permanent mark in the field of Medical Sciences and Drug Discovery.
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Doctor of Philisophy (PhD) - School of Clinical and Health Science, University of South Australia, Australia (2021).
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MSc. In Drug Discovery – School of Pharmacy, University College London (UCL), United Kingdom, (2011).
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Bachelor in Pharmacy (Honors) - University of Asia Pacific, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (2009).
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GCE A levels (Edexcel International), (2005).
- GCSE O levels (Edexcel International), (2003).
Journals
Fanta, B. S., Mekonnen, L., Basnet, S. K. C., Teo, T., Lenjisa, J., Khair, N. Z., Kou, L., Tadesse, S., Sykes, M. J., Yu, M., & Wang, S. (2023). 2-Anilino-4-(1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)pyrimidine-derived CDK2 inhibitors as anticancer agents: Design, synthesis & evaluation. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmc.2023.117158
Kabir, E. R., Haque Tanisha, M., Hossain Sagar, B., Mollika, R., Khan, T. T. S., Chowdhury, N. M., Yasmin, H., Khair, N. Z., Quadir, M., & Mustafa, N. (2022). 440P Targeting KRASG12C: Repurposing of potential therapeutics for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Annals of Oncology, 33, S1611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2022.10.471
Khair, N. Z., Lenjisa, J. L., Tadesse, S., Kumarasiri, M., Basnet, S. K. C., Mekonnen, L. B., Li, M., Diab, S., Sykes, M. J., Albrecht, H., Milne, R., & Wang, S. (2019). Discovery of CDK5 Inhibitors through structure-guided approach. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 10(5), 786–791. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.9b00029
Lenjisa, J. L., Tadesse, S., Khair, N. Z., Kumarasiri, M., Yu, M., Albrecht, H., Milne, R., & Wang, S. (2017). CDK5 in oncology: Recent advances and future prospects. Future Medicinal Chemistry, 9(16), 1939–1962. https://doi.org/10.4155/fmc-2017-0097
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Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy, BRAC University, June 2022-Present
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In addition to academic activities and research, Dr. Nishat is the course coordinator of multiple courses and an active member of the following committees at the School of Pharmacy:
- Research Committee
- Curriculum Committee,
- Professional/ Community Engagement Committee
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Event Management Committee.
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She is also a Person of trust (PoT) from the School of Pharmacy working with the Sexual Harassment, Exploitation, Bullying and Ragging Elimination Committee (SHEBREC), BRACU.
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Senior Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, BRAC University, February 2017 – May 2022
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Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, BRAC University, June 2012 – February 2017
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Research Assistant, Generon Pvt Ltd, Berkshire, England, UK, May 2011- September 2011
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Product Executive, Product Management Department, The ACME Laboratories Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 2010 – August 2010.
- Teacher, Mastermind (An English Medium School), Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 2005 – August 2005
PROFESSIONAL TRAININGS:
- Completed the following professional courses at the University of South Australia:
- Research Commercialization
- Leadership and Communication
- Critical and Creative Thinking
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Research Integrity in Practice
- Training on liquid-nitrogen handling at the University of South Australia
- Worked as a Laboratory demonstrator at University of South Australia
- Pharmaceutical Industrial training at Sanofi-Aventis Bangladesh ltd.
Medicinal Chemistry I, Medicinal Chemistry II, Medicinal Chemistry III, Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics II, Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs, Biotechnology, Physical Pharmacy I, Physical Pharmacy II, Microbiology I, Pharmaceutical Analysis I, Cosmetology.
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Presented scientific paper at the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) synthesis symposium, University of Adelaide, Mar 2021
- Presented scientific paper at the 1st Bi-annual PMB Symposium, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia (UniSA), July 2018.
• APR internship award funded by the Australian Government – 2022
• University Presidential Scholarship for PhD (Fully funded by the University of South Australia) – 2017
• Tuition fee waiver for Masters at University College London (UCL) School of Pharmacy, London, UK – 2010
• Best Poster award in Molecular Modelling – ‘Approaches to Cancer Therapeutics: Targeting the Tyrosine Kinase Domain’ – UCL, UK – 2010
• Distinction grade for exemplary achievement in the Masters of Drug Discovery at University College London (UCL), School of Pharmacy, University College London, United Kingdom. 2011
• Achieved 100% tuition waiver in the 1st and 4th year of Bachelor of Pharmacy based on excellent academic performances at the University of Asia Pacific. (2005-2009)
• The Daily Star Award for obtaining the highest mark in General Biology in Bangladesh (O’ level), (2003)
• Member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (MRACI)
• Member of American Chemical Society (ACS)
Dr. Nishat’s research mainly focuses on cancer drug discovery through small molecule design, and synthesis; and computational chemistry. She has also conducted research in the area of Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Microbiology and epidemiology. She is interested in conducting translational research in the field of Health Science by forging multidisciplinary approaches.