Dr Bushra Ateeq is a Professor and a Senior Fellow of the DBT / Wellcome Trust India Alliance in the Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering , IIT Kanpur specializing in cancer biology and molecular oncology . Her research interest involves exploration of the genetic and epigenetic changes that initiate cancer and its progression . She is also focusing on understanding the molecular events that drive cancer metastases and resistance towards chemotherapeutic drugs . Dr Ateeq and her team also have the distinction of undertaking a first-of-itskind attempt in India of testing nearly 121 prostate cancer tissue samples and identifying several significant genetic alterations . These discoveries have the potential to be translated into effective therapies and treatments .
Dr Ateeq obtained her Ph . D . from Aligarh Muslim University , Aligarh . After a brief stint as a Research Associate at Research Associate at All India Institute of Medical Sciences and National Institute of Immunology , New Delhi , she moved to Michigan Center for Translational Pathology , University of Michigan . There she was trained as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr Arul Chinnaiyan ’ s group , later also serving there as a Research Investigator ( Junior Faculty ). Prior to this , she was a postdoctoral trainee in Dr . Shafaat Rabbani ’ s group at McGill University , Montreal . Equipped with knowledge and training , she came back to India and joined BSBE department at IIT Kanpur in 2013 as an assistant professor .
Dr Ateeq ’ s findings have showed that the miRNAs are epigenetically silenced in SPINK1- positive Prostate Cancer ( PCa ), and restoring their expression using synthetic mimetics or drugs targeting epigenetic modifications could
Current Position : Professor , Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering , IIT Kanpur
Impact : First-of-its-kind attempt in India of testing nearly 121 prostate cancer tissue samples and identifying several significant genetic alterations .
Notable Awards : Sun Pharma Science Foundation Research Award-2021 ; Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Medical Sciences- 2020 ; DBT S . Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award-2020 ; CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute Award-2020 . abrogate SPINK1- mediated oncogenesis . Collectively , her findings provide an explanation for the paradoxical clinical-outcomes after Androgen Deprivation Therapy ( ADT ), possibly due to SPINK1 upregulation , and offers CK1 inhibition as a strategy for Prostate Cancer adjuvant therapies .
Dr Atteq also identified the patterns of gene alterations that occur in the Indian population . For this , she associated with hospitals and medical centres , namely Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College ( GSVM ) in Kanpur , King George ’ s Medical University in Lucknow and All India Institutes of Medical Sciences ( AIIMS ) in New Delhi . These hospitals provided her with samples of human cancer tissues that came from biopsies and surgeries conducted on patients suffering from breast and prostate cancers .
Alma Mater : Aligarh Muslim University
Dr Ateeq serves as a huge source of inspiration for young researchers in India who are want to make it big in the biotech R & D .
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