Biology By Khan Sir

[Amabella Batton]

Ithink very few people know this, but Texas A&M has a cricket team (sport mostly played by commonwealth countries and growing immensely in USA as well). I have been part of the team and represented the University since my first year of graduate school.

I certainly notice a change in myself as a lab instructor as compared to when I started teaching many years back. I have become more patient, guide students to an answer rather than giving it to them, assist them to overcome issues during lab, and try to focus on key aspects and steps during my lab introductions that will help them successfully conduct their experiments. Also, with years of experience, I know where students can possibly face issues with experiments. That is something I emphasize on as well.

There are certainly many things I have learnt along my way in graduate school. First and foremost, do not be afraid to fail. It certainly teaches you a lot and provides an opportunity to learn. It might seem like the end of the road at one point, but it never is. You must stick through tough times and keep finding alternatives to move forward.

Lastly, enjoy the journey. Graduate school is just not about finishing your thesis. It will certainly upgrade your scientific skills, but along with that it will also give you an opportunity to develop your personal and professional skills. At the end, it is up to us what qualities we want to embrace for good.

As an undergraduate, along with studies, I also competed in various science fairs. It helped me realize what I need to learn and which qualities I need to work on to be more successful. Besides that, I think I am fairly hard working. I used that as a tool during my graduate school. However, I must add, that hard work when coupled with knowing when to move on or choose an alternative route (with regards to your experiments) will make you more successful and help you achieve your goal faster.

I am currently interning at a national lab. I am working on developing genetic tools to manipulate non-model thermophilic micro-organisms. In addition, I am also working on enhancing environmental DNA capturing ability of Pseudomonas putida. In my Ph.D. so far, I have developed a strategy which can help transcribe a heterologous DNA cluster by overcoming intrinsic terminators in E. coli.

The department of biology has diverse research interests. Even though we end up in one lab, the opportunity to learn from various labs and their approach to a problem was very intriguing to me.

I have learned a lot in these years, and they have helped me to prepare myself to deal with what comes next. My immediate plans are to graduate (hopefully soon). I will start applying for industrial jobs in the near future.

Leading the Aggie Cricket Club in Texas A&M University. Back in 2016, most of the Cricket team members graduated, and we were left with no one to run the club or represent the team. I, along with couple of other cricket enthusiasts helped revive/gain recognition to the club again. Since then, we have had a very competitive team but, it was just recently after a long wait, we won the 2019 edition of South-West championship beating the likes of LSU, UT-Arlington and UH Cougars. That has been one of the memorable experiences for me because after a lot of hard work and patience, eventually success did find its way to us.

I am a Postdoctoral Associate in the laboratory of Dr. Mohsan Saeed in the Department of Biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine. Before joining the Saeed lab, I did my M. Phil in Biochemistry at the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, Pakistan, and Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany. During my Ph.D., I performed biochemical and biophysical analysis of human nucleotide kinases and devised strategies to enhance the ability of these kinases to activate nucleoside-analog prodrugs with antiviral and anticancer properties.My current research explores the role of human proteases in viral infections. A human cell is estimated to contain approximately 600 proteases and protease-inhibiting proteins that work in concert with each other to orchestrate various biological processes, such as cell-cycle progression, cell proliferation, DNA replication, and tissue remodeling. In addition, cellular proteases have been shown to have important roles in virus infection, as evidenced by ACE2, TMPRSS2, CTSL, and DPP4 being critical host dependency factors for coronavirus replication. I utilize protein overexpression and depletion strategies to systematically analyze the role of cellular proteases in various steps of coronavirus infection. Once the candidate genes are identified, I take multidisciplinary approaches combining virology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and structural analyses to uncover the mechanisms through which cellular proteases contribute to virus infection.

The Amgen Foundation has renewed a $3 million grant to Khan Academy to support several key learning initiatives, including virtual biology lessons; partnerships with school districts facing budget shortfalls; and a collaboration with LabXchange, a new online science learning platform launched by Harvard and the Amgen Foundation earlier this year.

While school districts are navigating how to re-open, they're facing unprecedented financial pressure. The Amgen Foundation is committed to strengthening communities where Amgen staff live and work and, to that end, part of its renewed funding supports two school districts in Southern California that are partners of Khan Academy. Both districts, Paramount Unified School District and Hueneme Elementary School District, serve primarily students of color and face looming budget shortfalls.

"The Amgen Foundation has demonstrated a deep commitment to science education for many years and we're honored by the renewed support," said Khan Academy founder and CEO Sal Khan. "The funding allows us to create new biology lessons that will enrich the classroom experience for students and teachers everywhere, while also providing important support to local school districts in a time of deep need."

Board certified in radiobiology/physics by the American Board of Radiology, Mohammad K. Khan, MD, PhD, specializes in the treatment of lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, skin (melanoma, squamous cell, basal cell, merkel cell), and pediatric cancers. Dr. Khan serves as vice chair for education in the Department of Radiation Oncology where he works to complement and extend the department's educational efforts beyond its residency programs.

Prior to medical school, Dr. Khan received two BS degrees, one in Nuclear Engineering and one in Biology with a minor in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Both degrees were awarded with Summa Cum Laude distinction. He then completed his MS, and PhD degrees in Nuclear Engineering with emphasis on health and medical physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His graduate research focused on the use of innovative imaging technologies, such as PET and MRI, to improve radiation treatment planning for emerging cancer therapeutics such as boron neutron capture therapy for patients with malignant brain tumors.

Dr. Khan did his residency training in radiation oncology at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH. He completed a fellowship in ABS Prostate Bracytherapy at the Seattle Prostate Institute and an internship in medicine and surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

Pembrolizumab and low-dose, single-fraction radiotherapy for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma: a prospective, single-centre, single-group, open-label, phase 2 pilot trial in the USA.

Mono-institutional phase 2 study of innovative Stereotactic Body RadioTherapy targeting PArtial Tumor HYpoxic (SBRT-PATHY) clonogenic cells in unresectable bulky non-small cell lung cancer: profound non-targeted effects by sparing peri-tumoral immune microenvironment.

I got interested in molecular biology after college, when I started working in a lab that studied the molecules involved in how plants sense and respond to light. From that lab, I went to grad school and earned my PhD studying the molecular mechanisms of how certain bacteria cause diseases in plants. Super cool stuff!

Cohn: Anyone can learn science, and anyone can do science! No one is born with the knowledge and experience it takes to have a career in this field. Gaining this knowledge takes time and hard work, but if you are amazed by the world around you, then you can do it.

Also, having some basic computer programming skills will help a lot. Because of the recent and amazing technological advances in how we can gather data, many projects involve huge data sets, so basic coding skills can really come in handy.

The mission of the Oncogenomics Section is to harness the power of high throughput genomic and proteomic methods to improve the outcome of children with high-risk metastatic, refractory and recurrent cancers. The research goals are to integrate the data, decipher the biology of these cancers and to identify and validate biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets and to rapidly translate our findings to the clinic.

1. Comprehensive Omics Analysis: a) Applying high-throughput genomics, proteomics mathematical modeling and bioinformatics to characterize currently incurable malignancies including metastatic, resistant and relapsed tumors for the identification and validation of biomarkers and therapeutic targets. b) Genome wide association studies and mutational screening of germ-line DNA.

2. Targeted Therapeutics: a) High-throughput siRNA, small molecule, natural products, and drug screening for high-risk pediatric malignancies. b) Development of molecularly targeted therapeutic agents against existing and newly identified targets.

3. Translational Oncology: Leverage the existing clinical and scientific strengths within the Genetics Branch including phase 1/2 therapeutics, immune/vaccine therapy and molecular biology to translate these findings to the clinic in an environment where there is state-of-the-art clinical care.

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