Saleem Iqbal


Position: Senior Postdoctoral Fellow

E-mail:  saleemiqbal550@gmail.com, saleem.iqbal.1@ulaval.ca

Research Interests: X-Ray Crystallography, Systems Pharmacology, Structural and Translational Bioinformatics, Oncology, Neurobiology, Drug Discovery, Protein folding, Biomarkers- non-coding ncRNAs, personalized medicine

 

Biography

 Dr. Saleem Iqbal is an award recipient for Structural Virology-SARS-CoV-2 project. He currently works as Senior Postdoctoral fellow here at Institutes for Systems Genetics, Frontiers Science Centre for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital. His current work focusses on AI guided drug discovery therapeutics and multi-omics of Oncology. As a Neuroscientist, Biophysicist, Crystallographer and structural bioinformatician, he uses his expertise in protein folding, System Biology, Molecular modelling, Ligand design, SAR, Molecular dynamics simulations to understand and study important human diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s disease, COVID-19 therapeutics and Cancer at different interfaces. He has been Visiting Professor at the School of Pharmaceutical Education and Research at Jamia Hamdard University and School of Biotechnology at Bennett University. He earned his Ph.D., in Bioinformatics-Crystallography and Biophysics-Interdisciplinary from prestigious Biophysics Department, University of Madras- which is home of pioneering discoveries viz., Triple Helical Structure of Collagen, the famous Ramachandran plot for the protein structure and application of anomalous scattering methods. He worked as Research Associate for Prostate Cancer therapeutics at Bioinformatics Lab funded by Department of Biotechnology, India. He also worked as Senior Research Associate at Prestigious Department of Computational and Data Sciences (CDS), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore., where his publication on secretase biology "Discovery of microRNAs as biomarkers targeting the delta secretases" is a key finding in Alzheimer’s Disease. He is recipient of various travel awards. Dr. Saleem Iqbal major projects have been funded by Alzheimer’s Association, EMBO, DBT and CIHR.

Activities

Work Experience and Employment 

Institute of System Genetics, West China Hospital

2024-08 to Present |

Postdoctoral Fellow. (Systems Oncology)

 

Indian Institute of Sciences: Bangalore, Karnataka, IN

2023-06 to 2024-08 | Research Associate- Systems Biology (Department of Computational & Data Sciences (CDS), Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc).

 

Centre de recherche du CHUL-Faculty de Medicine : Quebec, QC, CANADA

2021-09 to 2023-06 | Senior Post-doctoral Fellow (Structural Virology of SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics)

 

Indian Institute of Sciences: Bangalore, Karnataka, IN

2020-04 to 2021-09-12 | Research Associate-Systems Medicine (Bioinformatics Centre, CDS & Supercomputer Education and Research Centre)

 

Jamia Hamdard: NEW DELHI, IN

2018-12 to 2020-03| Prostate Cancer therapeutics

Research Associate (Molecular medicine)

 

 

Education and qualifications 

UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS: CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, IN

2015-01-10 to 2019-08-05 | Ph.D. in BIOINFORMATICS- CRYSTALLOGRAPHY & BIOPHYSICS-Interdisciplinary)

 

UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS: CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, IN

2011-06-05 to 2013-06-03 | M S BIOINFORMATICS (DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY)

 

Professional Research and Achievements

Visiting Professor 

Bennett University: Greater Noida, NEW DELHI, IN

2020-01 to 2021-09 | (SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES-BIOTECHNOLOGY)

Professional Teaching

Visiting Professor 

Jamia Hamdard University: NEW DELHI, IN

2019-2020 | (SCHOOL OF PHARMACEUTICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH (SPER).

Professional Mentorship

Mentored 10 PhD Students and various Masters students in Bioinformatics and (molecular simulations of biological macromolecules of high scientific interests) during 2019-2023 at (CASCB) University of Madras, (SPER) Jamia Hamdard University, School of Biotechnology, Bennett University & Chu de Quebec Hospital, Canada.

 

Funding (1)

‘Innovative therapeutic approaches for the 2019-novel coronavirus’

2021-09 to 2023-09 | Received Prestigious CIHR Award.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (ON, CA)

 

Funding (2)

Department of Biotechnology-(DBT-RA) Fellowship Award

2018 to 2020 | Received Research Associateship Award for Drug Discovery therapeutics

 

 

 Publications 

Deep Drug Discovery of Mac Domain of SARS-CoV-2 (WT) Spike Inhibitors: Using Experimental ACE2 Inhibition TR-FRET Assay, Screening, Molecular Dynamic Simulations and Free Energy Calculations

Bioengineering

2023-08-14 | Journal article| First and Co-Corresponding author.

DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering10080961

ContributorsSaleem Iqbal; Sheng-Xiang Lin

 

Design, crystal structure determination, molecular dynamic simulation and MMGBSA calculations of novel p38-alpha MAPK inhibitors for combating Alzheimer’s disease

Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics

2022-09-02 | Journal article | First author

DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2021.1877197

ContributorsSaleem Iqbal; Raju Potharaju; S. Naveen; N. K. Lokanath; Arasambattu K. Mohanakrishnan; Krishnasamy Gunasekaran

 

Insights in the structural understanding of amyloidogenicity and mutation-led conformational dynamics of amyloid beta (Aβ) through molecular dynamics simulations and principal component analysis

Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics

2022-08-13 | Journal article | First author

DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2021.1871955

Contributors: Saleem IqbalSriram Srinivasa Raghavan; Niraikulam Ayyadurai; Krishnasamy Gunasekaran

 

In Silico Identification of Potential Inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Through Molecular Docking-Based Drug Repurposing

Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal

2022-05-31 | Journal article | First and Corresponding author.

DOI: 10.1007/s44229-022-00004-z

Contributors:  Ruksar A; Iqbal S; Rauf S; Heena A, Lata V; Shkir M

 

 

Network-based identification of miRNAs and transcription factors and in silico drug screening targeting δ-secretase involved in Alzheimer's disease

Heliyon

2021-12 | Journal article | First and Co-Corresponding author

DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08502

ContributorsSaleem Iqbal; Md. Zubbair Malik; Debnath Pal

 

Development of a Lung Cancer Model in Wistar Rat and In Silico Screening of its Biomarkers

Current Computer-Aided Drug Design

2021-07-15 | Journal article

DOI: 10.2174/1574893615999200505075713

Contributors: Nisat Alam; Hasina Najnin; Maidul Islam; Saleem Iqbal; Rana Zaidi

 

Divergent Synthesis and Evaluation of the in vitro Cytotoxicity Profiles of 3,4‐Ethylenedioxythiophenyl‐2‐propen‐1‐one Analogues

ChemMedChem

2019-08-06 | Journal article

DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201900225

CONTRIBUTORS : Jayachandran Karunakaran; Nachiappan Dhatchana Moorthy; Somenath Roy Chowdhury; Saleem Iqbal; Hemanta K. Majumder; Krishnasamy Gunasekaran; Elangovan Vellaichamy; Arasambattu K. Mohanakrishnan

 

 SAUSSUREA LAPPA AND SAFFRON‐POLYPHENOLS AS SOURCE FOR ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE THERAPEUTICS

Alzheimer's & Dementia

2019-07 | Journal Article-Proceedings | First and Corresponding author

DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2019.06.1230

Contributors: Saleem Iqbal

 

Crystal structures and Hirshfeld surface analyses of 4,4′-{[1,3-phenylenebis(methylene)]bis(oxy)}bis(3-methoxybenzaldehyde) and 4,4′-{[(1,4-phenylenebis(methylene)]bis(oxy)}bis(3-methoxybenzaldehyde)

Acta Crystallographica Section E Crystallographic Communications

2019-06-01 | Journal article | First Author

DOI: 10.1107/s2056989019006662

 

Identification of potential PKC inhibitors through pharmacophore designing, 3D-QSAR and molecular dynamics simulations targeting Alzheimer’s disease

Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics

2018-11-18 | Journal article; | First and Corresponding author

 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2017.1406824

Contributors: Saleem Iqbal; Dhanabalan Anantha Krishnan; Krishnasamy Gunasekaran

 

Novel isothiacalothrixin B analogues exhibit cytotoxic activity on human colon cancer cells in vitro by inducing irreversible DNA damage

PLOS ONE

2018-09-06 | Journal article ; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202903

CONTRIBUTORS : Dhatchana Moorthy N, Muthu Ramalingam B, Iqbal S, Mohanakrishnan AK, Gunasekaran K, Vellaichamy E. 

 

 

poly-[lactide-co-glycolic acid] nanoparticles modulate metastatic markers and proteasomal activity in hepatocarcinoma Hep3b cell line

European Journal of Nanomedicine

2017-10-26 | Journal article; DOI: 10.1515/ejnm-2017-0013

 

 THERAPEUTIC ROLE OF QUERCETIN IN TREATING TYPE 3 DIABETES (T3D) AS EVIDENCED BY SYSTEM PHARMACOLOGY

Alzheimer's & Dementia | First and Corresponding author

2017-07 | Journal article ; DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2017.06.711

Contributors: Saleem Iqbal

 

Antioxidant and Anticancer Activities of Methanol Extract of Seeds of Datura stramonium l

Free Radicals and Antioxidants 7(2), 184–189. | First and Corresponding author

2017-07 | Journal article | https://doi.org/10.5530/fra.2017.2.28

Contributors: Saleem Iqbal; Sivaraj C; Gunasekaran K.

 

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Calothrixins B and their Deoxygenated Analogues.

Journal of Médicinal Chemistry;

2017-07 | Journal article; DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2017.06.711

Contributors:  Muthu Ramalingam B, Dhatchana Moorthy N, Chowdhury SR, Mageshwaran T, Vellaichamy E, Saha S, Ganesan K, Rajesh BN, Iqbal S, Majumder HK, Gunasekaran K, Siva R, Mohanakrishnan AK.

 

Book Chapter(s)

microRNA Isolation, Expression Profiling, and Target Identification for Neuroprotection Alzheimer’s Disease. In: Ray, S.K. (eds) Neuroprotection. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2761. Humana, New York, NY.

2024 | Journal- Neuroprotection. Methods in Molecular Biology | First Author

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3662-6_20

ContributorsSaleem Iqbal; Debnath Pal

 

 Scientific  Presentations 

Presented a Poster entitled “Network-based identification of miRNAs and transcription factors and in silico drug screening targeting δ-secretase involved in Alzheimer's disease” at Alzheimers Association International Conference (AAIC), July 31st -Aug 04, 2022, San Diego, California, USA.

Presented a Poster entitled Efficacy in binding mechanism of staurosporine inhibitors against Cyclin dependent kinases using molecular modelling and dynamic simulations approaches at Alzheimers Association International Conference (AAIC), 22-28 July 2016 Toronto, CANADA.

Presented a Poster entitled: Therapeutic role of quercetin in treating Type 3 Diabetes(T3D) as evidenced by System Pharmacology at Alzheimers Related Disorders Society Of India, on 10- 11 December, 2016.

Presented a poster entitled Comparision of Antioxidant activities of Saussurea lappa and Datura Stramonium - International Conference on Medicinal plants and herbal drugs for Human Welfare (ICMP-2015).

Presented a poster in Current Trends in Drug discovery and research (CTDDR-2016), head at lucknow (25th -28th feb 2016) India .

Presented a poster entitled Molecular Docking Studies and 3DQSAR modeling of Piperazine Derivatives of Xanthone as Adrenergic inhibitors for Cardiovascular Diseases - International Congress on Friedreichs Ataxia and DNA Structure in Health & Disease- (DSHD 2015)