info@stmu.edu.pk +92-51-846-4214
Dr. Mustafeez Mujtaba Babar

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR / CHAIRPERSON DEPARTMENT OF BIOSCIENCES

chairperson.dbs@stmu.edu.pk

 mustafeez.scps@stmu.edu.pk

+92-51-843-8061 EXT 502

Profile Summary

Dr. Babar is an interdisciplinary researcher focused on bridging the gap between basic, applied and clinical sciences. Trained as a clinical pharmacist during his Pharm. D. program, he later equipped himself with research tools of pharmacology, virology and microbiology, medicinal chemistry, plant biotechnology, materials engineering and pharmacoinformatic during his post-graduate and postdoctoral training years at National University of Sciences and Technology (Pakistan), Stanford University School of Medicine (USA), Johns Hopkins University (USA) and The University of Edinburgh (UK). Owing to his diverse training and experience, his research interests incorporate all the areas of drug discovery and development process. Dr. Babar has been trained in curriculum design and development, instructional and assessment strategies and evaluation. He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Clinical Education from The University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, UK) and is certified in Medical Education (Assessment) by the Association for Medical Education in Europe (Dundee, UK). He has been involved in the designing, development, implementation and monitoring of curricula of various degree programs including Doctor of Pharmacy (conventional and Integrated Contextual Modular Curriculum), BS Biosciences (Microbiology and Biotechnology), BS Biomedical Engineering, MPhil Clinical Pharmacy Practice, MPhil Pharmacology, MS Applied Biosciences and PhD Pharmacy. Based on his contribution to the academic development, he was awarded the best University Teacher Award as per HEC criteria for year 2019-2020.

Qualification

Ph.D. Virology and Immunology National University of Sciences and Technology (Pak) and Stanford University (USA) – split research 2016
M.Phil. Virology and Immunology National University of Sciences and Technology (Pak) 2011
Doctor of Pharmacy Pharmacy Riphah International University (Pak) 2009
Associate Professor Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad Since 2017
Assistant Professor Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad 2016-2017
Assistant Professor Abasyn University, Islamabad 2016-2016
Teaching Assistant National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 2013-2016
Lecturer The University of Lahore, Islamabad 2011-2013
Consultant Pharmacist Medina Pharmacy, Rawalpindi Since 2019
Fulbright Post Doc Scholar (Visiting Faculty) Johns Hopkins University, USA and Stanford University, USA 2021-2022
Visiting Researcher Discipline of Clinical Pharmacy, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. 2019-2020
Visiting Researcher Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford University, USA 2014-2018
Consultant Pharmacist M.D. Medical Store, Rawalpindi 2009-2019
Research Associate National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan 2010-2011
 
Chairperson Department of Biosciences, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad Since 2018
Program Director Doctor of Pharmacy – Integrated Curriculum, Shifa College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad Since 2021
Advisor Student Affairs Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad Since 2016
1. Fulbright Post-doc Scholarship for visiting Johns Hopkins University, USA and Stanford University, USA
2. Best University Teacher Award 2019-2020, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad.
3. Fully funded scholarship for M.Sc. Clinical Education by the Center for Clinical Education, The University of Edinburgh, UK
  1. Drug Design, Discovery and Development
  2.  Virology
  3. Infectious Diseases
  4. Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship
  5. Clinical Education
  6. Plant biotechnology

1. PhD Development of phage based nano-composites for skin and soft tissue infections
2. PhD Biogeographical characterization of acne vulgaris in Pakistan and pharmacological evaluation of novel drug formulation in an acne mouse model
3. PhD Modeling and characterization of an efficient sustainable grey water filtration plant for significant reduction in microbial and chemical contamination in Taxila, Pakistan
4. PhD Selection of active drug candidates through virtual screening of potential anti-cancer compounds, their nanomicelle formation, characterization and activity determination against skin cancer
5. PhD Re-purposing and evaluation of the existing drugs against new potential cervical cancer targets and formulation development
6. PhD Development of plant-based vaccine candidate vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae
7. PhD Computational design, synthesis and biological evaluation of dihydropyrimidone derivatives as potential anti-cancer agents
8. MPhil Development of phage therapy against multidrug resistant Proteus mirabilis
9. MPhil Enhanced anti- multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus activity of silver nanoparticles in Skin and Soft Tissue Infection
10. MPhil Development of silver nanoparticles formulation based on mint by Green Synthesis
11. MPhil In silico and in vivo evaluation of synergistic effects of anticancer agents with antioxidant therapy in skin and breast cancer
12. MPhil Synthesis, in silico studies and biological evaluation of 2-(substituted phenyl) thiazolidine-4-carboxamide derivatives
1. Fatima H, Hamdani SDA, Ahmed M, Rajput TA, Gul A, Amir R, Munir F, Malik SZ and Babar MM (2023) Anti-MRSA potential of biogenic silver nanoparticles synthesized from hydroponically grown Foeniculum vulgare. Phytomedicine Plus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phyplu.2023.100415
2. Afzaal H, Altaf R, Ilyas U, Shahiq-uz-Zaman, Hamdani SDA, Khan S, Zafar H, Babar MM and Duan Y (2022) Virtual screening and drug repositioning of FDA-approved drugs from the ZINC database to identify the potential hTERT inhibitors. Frontiers in Pharmacology. doi.org/ 10.3389/fpharm.2022.1048691
3. Afzaal H, Shahiq-uz-Zaman, Saad A, Hamdani SDA, Raza A, Gul A, Babar MM and Rajadas J (2022) Development of mucoadhesive adapalene gel for biotherapeutic delivery to vaginal tissue. Frontiers in Pharmacology. doi.org/ 10.3389/fpharm.2022.1017549
4. Babar MM and Abutaleb M (2021) Editorial: Science Communication: An essential skill for clinicians. Journal of Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University (Pakistan). 4(1): 1-2. doi.org/ 10.32593/jstmu/Vol4.I ss1.134
5. Bibi N, Zaidi NSS, Tahir M and Babar MM (2021) Vaccinomics driven proteome-wide screening of Haempophilus influenzae for the prediction of common putative vaccine candidates. Canadian Journal of Microbiology (Canada). In press. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjm-2020-0535
6. Malik A, Gul A, Munir F, Amir R, Alipour H, Babar MM, Bakhtiar SM, Paracha RZ, Khalid Z and Hayat MQ (2021) Evaluating the cleavage efficacy of CRISPR-Cas9 sgRNAs targeting ineffective regions of Arabidopsis thaliana genome. PeerJ (USA). 9:e11409 doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11409
7. Khan DA, Hamdani SDA, Iftikhar S, Malik SZ, Zaidi NSS, Gul A, Babar MM, Ozturk M, Unal BT and Gonenc T (2021) Pharmacoinformatics approaches in the discovery of drug-like antimicrobials of plant origin. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics (UK). In press. doi.org/10.1080/07391102.2021.1894982
8. Altaf R, Nadeem H, Babar MM, Ilyas U and Muhammad SA (2021) Genome-scale meta-analysis of breast cancer datasets identifies promising targets for drug development. Journal of Biological Research Thessaloniki (Greece). 28 (5): 1-15 doi.org/10.1186/s40709-021-00136-7
9. Malik A, Gul A, Amir R, Munir F, Babar MM, Bakhtiar SM, Hayat MQ, Paracha RZ, Khalid Z, Alipour H (2020) Classification and Computational Analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana Sperm Cell-Specific F-Box Protein Gene 3p. AtFBP113. Frontiers in Genetics (Switzerland). 11: 609668 doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2020.609668
10. Pothineni VR, Parekh MB, Babar MM, Ambati A, Maguire P, Inayatullah M, Kim K, Tayebi L, Potula HSK and Rajadas J. (2018) In vitro and in vivo evaluation of cephalosporins for the treatment of Lyme disease. Drug Design, Development and Therapy (USA). 2018(12):2915-2921 doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S164966
11. Pothineni VR, Wagh D, Babar MM Inayatullah M, Watts RW, Kim K, Parekh MB, Gurjarpadhye A, Solow-Cordero D, Tayebi L and Rajadas J.  (2017) Screening of NCI-DTP library to identify new drug candidates for Borrelia burgdorferi. The Journal of Antibiotics (Japan). 70:308-312 doi.org/10.1038/ja.2016.131
12. Dar H, Zaheer T, Rehman MT, Ali A, Javed A, Khan GA, Babar MM and Waheed Y. (2016) Prediction of promiscuous T-cell epitopes in the Zika virus polyprotein: An in silico approach. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine (China). 9(9):844-850 doi.org/10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.07.004
13. Mahboob A, Farhat SM, Iqbal G, Babar MM, Zaidi NSS, Nabavi SM and Ahmed T (2016). Alpha- lipoic acid-mediated activation of muscarinic receptors improves hippocampus and amygdala- dependent memory. Brain Research Bulletin (USA). 122: 19-28 doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2016.02.014
14. Pothineni VR, Wagh D, Babar MM, InayatUllah M, Solow-Cordero DE, Kim KM, Samineni AV, Parekh MB, Tayebi L and Rajadas J (2016). Identification of new drug candidates against Borrelia burgdorferi using high-throughput screening.  Drug Design, Development and Therapy (USA).  2016(10):1307-1322 doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S101486
15. Babar MM and Zaidi NSS (2015).  Protein sequence conservation and stable molecular evolution reveals Influenza Virus Nucleoprotein as a universal druggable target.  Infection, Genetics and Evolution (USA). 34: 200-210 doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2015.06.030
16. Ashraf Z, Rafiq M, Seo SY, Babar MM and Zaidi NSS (2015). Synthesis, kinetic mechanism and docking studies of vanillin derivatives as inhibitors of mushroom tyrosinase.  Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry (USA). 23(17):5870-5880 doi.org/10.1016/j.bmc.2015.06.068
17. Ashraf Z, Rafiq M, Seo SY, Babar MM and Zaidi NSS.  (2015) Design, synthesis and bioevaluation of novel umbelliferone analogues as potential mushroom tyrosinase inhibitors.  Journal of Enzyme Inhibition & Medicinal Chemistry (UK). 2015: 1-10  doi.org/10.3109/14756366.2014.979346
18. Ashraf Z, Rafiq M, Seo SY, Kwon KS, Babar MM and Zaidi NSS. (2015) Kinetic and in silico studies of novel hydroxyl-based thymol analogues as inhibitors of mushroom tyrosinase.  European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (France/EU). 98: 203-211 doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2015.05.031
19. Babar MM, Zaidi NSS and Tahir M.  (2014) Global geno-proteomic analysis reveals crosscontinental sequence conservation and druggable sites among Influenza Virus Polymerases. Antiviral Research (USA). 112: 120-131 doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2014.10.013
20. Babar  MM, Riaz  MS,  Zaidi  NSS,  Afzal  F  and  Farooq  MS  (2013)  Production  of  Avian  Influenza  Virus Vaccine using Primary Cell Cultures Generated from Host Organs. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (Germany). 40(6): 625-632 doi.org/10.1007/s10295-013-1256-8
21. Babar MM, Zaidi NSS, Kazi AG and Rehman A.  (2013)  Virosomes – Hybrid Drug Delivery Systems. Journal of Antivirals and Antiretrovirals (USA). 5(1): 166-178 doi.org/10.4172/jaa.1000083
22. Babar MM, Zaidi NSS, Ashraf M and Kazi AG (2013) Antiviral Drug Therapy- Exploiting Medicinal Plants. Journal of Antivirals and Antiretrovirals (USA). 5(1):28-36. doi.org/10.4172/jaa.1000060
1. Hamdani DA, Khan DA, Rafiq AQ, Babar MM* (2020) Climate Change and Plant Abiotic Stress: Responses, Sensing and Signaling In (Ed.) Hasanuzzaman M Plant Ecophysiology and Adaptation under Climate Change: Mechanisms and Perspectives I General Consequences and Plant Responses (Springer Nature, Switzerland AG) pp. 587 -604 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2156-0_20
2. Waseem T, Zargaham MK, Shahid F, Rajput TA, Ibrahim B, Babar MM* (2020) New approaches to antimicrobial discovery: Current development and future prospects In (Ed.s) Rastegari AA, Yadav AN, Yadav N New and Future Developments in Microbial Biotechnology and Bioengineering (Academic Press, Elsevier Inc.) pp. 67-77 doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820528-0.00006-5
3. Haseeb Q, Hamdani SDA, Akram A, Khan DA, Rajput TA, Babar MM* (2020) Nanobiotechnology: Paving the Way to Personalized Medicine In (Ed.s) Saxena S, Khurana S NanoBioMedicine (Springer, Singapore) pp. 17-32 doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9898-9_2
4. Laaldin N, Baloch SR, Noor A, Aziz A, Gul A, Rajput TA, Babar MM* (2020) Animal models: bridging cross-species variation through animal biotechnology In (Ed.s) Malik YS, Barrh D, Azevedo V, Paul Khuarana SM. Genomics and Biotechnological Advances in Veterinary, Poultry, and Fisheries (Academic Press, Elsevier Inc.) pp. 183-207 doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816352-8.00008-4
5. Khan DA, Ali Z, Iftikhar S, Amraiz D, Zaidi NSS, Gul A, Babar MM* (2018) Role of Phytohormones in Enhancing Antioxidant Defense in Plants exposed to Metal/ Metalloid Toxicity In (Ed.s) Hasanuzzaman M, Nahar K, Fujita M. Plants under Metal and Metalloid Stress (Springer, Singapore) pp. 367-400 doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2242-6_14
6. Iftikhar S, Ali Z, Khan DA, Zaidi NSS, Gul A, Babar MM* (2018) Arsenic Toxicity: A South Asian Perspective In (Ed.s) Hasanuzzaman M, Nahar K, Fujita M. Mechanisms of Arsenic Toxicity and Tolerance in Plants (Springer, Singapore) pp. 483-502 doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1292-2_19
7. Babar MM* and Tariq A. (2018) Status of Arsenic Toxicity in the World In (Ed.s) Hasanuzzaman M, Nahar K, Fujita M. Mechanisms of Arsenic Toxicity and Tolerance in Plants (Springer, Singapore) pp. 457-481 doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1292-2_18
8. Babar MM*, Afzaal H, Pothineni VR, Zaidi NSS, Ali Z, Zahid MA and Gul A. (2018) Omics Approaches in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering in (Ed. s) Barrh D  and Azevedo V Omics Technologies and Bioengineering: Towards Improving Quality of Life (Academic Press) pp. 251-268 doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815870-8.00014-0
9. Tanveer T, Shaheen K, Parveen S, Misbah Z, Babar MM and Gul A. (2018) Omics based bioengineering in Environmental Biology In (Ed. s) Barrh D.  and Azevedo V Omics  Technologies  and  Bioengineering: Towards Improving Quality of Life (Academic Press) pp. 353-364 doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815870-8.00019-X
10. Imadi SR, Babar MM, Khan SU, Hasan H, Ali M and Gul A. (2018) Biotechnology and Bioengineering in Astrobiology: Towards a New Habitat for Us In (Ed.s) Azevedo V and Barrh D  Omics Technologies and Bioengineering: Towards Improving Quality of Life (Academic Press) pp. 131-144 doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804659-3.00007-5
11. Nizami SB, Kazmi SZH, Abid F, Babar MM, Noor A, Zaidi NSS, Khan SU, Hasan H, Ali M and Gul A.  (2018) Omics Approaches in Forensic Biotechnology: Looking for Ancestry to Offence In (Ed.s) Azevedo V and  Barrh  D  Omics  Technologies  and Bioengineering :  Towards  Improving  Quality  of  Life (Academic Press) pp. 111-129 doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804659-3.00006-3
12. Babar MM, Zaidi NSS, Pothineni VR, Ali Z, Faisal S, Hakeem KR and Gul A.  (2017)  Application  of Bioinformatics  and  Systems  Biology  in  Medicinal  Plant  Studies  In  (Ed.s)  Hakeem  KR,  Malik  A,  Vardar- Sukan F and Ozturk M. Plant Bioinformatics: Decoding the Phyta (Springer, Cham) pp. 375-393 doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67156-7_15
13. Babar MM, Zaidi NSS, Ali Z, Siddiqui H, Fatima M, Abid F, Nizami SB, Noor A, Khan AN, Faisal S and Gul A. (2017) Transport and Metabolism of Nitrogen in Legume Nodules under Phosphorus Deficiency In (Ed.s)  Sulieman  S  and  Tran  LS  Legume  Nitrogen  Fixation  in  Soils  with  Low  Phosphorus  Availability (Springer, Cham) pp. 111-134 doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55729-8_6
14. Imadi SR, Babar MM, Hasan H and Gul A (2016) Soil Microflora – An Extensive Research In (Ed.s) Hakeem K., Akhtar J., Sabir M.  Soil Science:  Agricultural and Environmental Perspectives (Springer, Cham) pp. 303-316 doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34451-5_13
15. Babar  MM, Khan  SF,  Zargaham  MK,  Zaidi  NSS  and  Gul  A  (2016)  Plant-Microbe  Interactions:  A Molecular Approach In (Ed.s) Hakeem K. Plant, Soil and Microbes (Springer, Switzerland) pp. 1- 22 doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29573-2_1
16. Ali SH, Ali SA, Munam SA, Babar MM and Gul A (2016) Genomics of Plant, Soil and Microbe Interaction In (Ed.s) Hakeem K. Plant, Soil and Microbes (Springer, Switzerland) pp. 303-306 doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29573-2_14
17. Babar  MM, Zaidi  NSS  and  Kazi  AG  (2015)  Plant  Pharmacogenomics:  From  Drug  Discovery  to Personalized Ethnomedicine In (Ed.s) Barrh D, Khan MS and Davies E. Plant Omics: The Omics of Plant Science (Springer, India) pp. 699-730 doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2172-2_25
18. Babar MM, Zaidi NSS, Azooz MM and Kazi AG (2015) Biotechnology approaches to overcome biotic and abiotic stress constraints in legumes In (Ed.) Ahmad P.  Legumes under Environmental Stress:  Yield, Improvement and Adaptations (John Wiley & Sons, USA). pp. 247-264 doi.org/10.1002/9781118917091.ch15
19. Babar MM, Zaidi NSS, Azooz MM and Kazi AG (2015) Genetic and molecular responses of legumes in a changing environment In. (Ed.) Ahmad P. Legumes under Environmental Stress: Yield, Improvement and Adaptations (John Wiley & Sons, USA). pp. 199-214 doi.org/10.1002/9781118917091.ch12