Bio
Dr Ali is a pulmonary vascular and airway disease biology researcher. Specifically, he is interested in investigating the mechanisms that underpin development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) and asthma. His overarching goal is to discover improved therapies for individuals with the devastating form of the lung diseases.
His academic training and research experience across 4 nations and 3 continents have provided him with an excellent background in multiple biological disciplines including immunology, molecular biology, microbiology, and cell biology. He received a B.Sc in Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering in 2010 from Khulna University, Bangladesh, an M.Sc. in Systems Biotechnology in 2013 from Chung-Ang University, South Korea, and a PhD in Immunology and Microbiology in 2018 from the University of Newcastle, Australia. Work that he carried out during his PhD on iron and lung disease has been published in the prestigious journals, including Eur Respir J, J Pathol, and received significant media attentions (Picked up by > 10 news outlets so far) and formed the basis for one project grant. In Nov 2018, he joined Spiekerkoetter laboratory at Stanford to identify clinically significant novel bone morphogenic protein receptor 2 (BMPR2) signaling modifier genes that could be targeted with repurposed drugs to increase BMPR2 expression and signaling, one of the key pathways and potential master switch in PAH. In addition, lessons from this related genetic disease (PAH), he has recently started to work on dysfunctional TGF-?/BMPR2 signaling in HHT that causes vascular malformations in different organs, including lung.
To date, he has published 15 original research articles, 2 review articles and >30 conference papers in top tier prestigious journals, including Eur Respir J, J Pathol, Am J Respir Crit Care Med, Cardiovascular Res (total citations 360, h index 6, as of Dec 2020). He has received 12 awards and scholarships so far. He has mentored 5 undergraduate and 1 junior PhD students, demonstrated immunology and microbiology lab course for 3 years. He is working as a reviewer for prestigious journals and member of 12 scientific organizations. He is also working as a Co-Director of Stanford Cardiovascular Institute Postdoc Conference 2020.
Beyond academic professional life, he enjoys traveling, playing and watching cricket, watching movies.
Research interest:
1.Targeting BMPR2 signaling modifiers in PAH with repurposed drugs
2.Role of long non-coding RNAs in BMPR2 signaling in PAH
3.Identifying common and unique downstream genes and signaling pathways of HHT causing gene mutations (ALK1, ENG, SMAD4)
4.Role of ferroptosis in the pathogenesis of asthma
Key expertise:
In vitro and in vivo lung disease modeling, airway/tissue remodeling, airway/lung inflammation, emphysema, lung fibrosis, lung function, FACS, immune cells phenotypic characterization, handling and production of Haemophilus, Pseudomonas, Chlamydia respiratory infection, bacterial recovery from blood, BAL fluid, and lung, primary lung epithelial, fibroblast, and endothelial cell and cardiac fibroblast culture, cell lines culture, cytotoxic assays, cell proliferation, apoptosis, cytokines detection, shRNA/siRNA-based gene silencing techniques, molecular cloning, gene manipulation, viral vectors, virus production, bacterial culture, transformation, protein expression, isolation, and purification, ELISA, western blot, phosphorylations; histochemical, immunohistochemical techniques (light, fluorescence, confocal microscopy), qPCR, RNAscope, bioinformatics tools such as Gene Trail, Go annotations and KEGG pathways, Panther, MGI, DAVID, STRING network analysis
Honors & Awards
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PhD Award, The University of Newcastle, Australia (2018)
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Travel Award, The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) Travel Award (2017)
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Postgraduate Research Scholarship, The University of Newcastle, Australia (2014)
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MS Award, Chung-Ang University, South Korea (2013)
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Young Scientist Award, Chung-Ang University Young Scientist Award (CAYSS) (2011)
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B.Sc Honors Award, Khulna University, Bangladesh (2009)
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Merit Scholarship Award, Khulna University, Bangladesh (2008)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Member, National Postdoc Association, USA (2020 - Present)
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Member, American Thoracic Society (2020 - Present)
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Member, World Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (2018 - Present)
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Member, European Respiratory Society (2017 - Present)
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Member, The Thoracic Society for Australia and New Zealand (2016 - Present)
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Member, International society for infectious diseases (2015 - Present)
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Member, Asia Pacific Association of Pediatric Allergy, Respirology and Immunology (2015 - Present)
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Member, International BioIron Society (2015 - Present)
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Member, Priority Research Centre-Healthy Lungs, University of Newcastle, Australia (2014 - Present)
Professional Education
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Master of Science, Unlisted School (2013)
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Doctor of Philosophy, University Of Newcastle (2018)
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Bachelor of Science, Unlisted School (2010)