Osman Asghar Mirza

Primary fields of research

I am interested in understanding the interplay between (un)natural compounds and secondary active transporters involved in health and disease. My primary focus is on human intestinal transporters, which play important roles in nutrient and drug absorption. Furthermore, in cancers, expression of several of these transporters is upregulated due to high metabolic activity. Thus, molecular understanding of the structure and mechanism of these transporters may hold important clues towards improving both drug absorption and cancer therapy. Our experimental portfolio includes X-ray crystallography, functional assays, site-directed mutagenesis, biophysical analyses and bioinformatics.  

CV

Academic degrees
1999: M.Sc. Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen.
2003: Ph.D. Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen.  

Appointments and Training
2003-2005, Research Associate, Membrane Protein crystallography group, So Iwata, Imperial College London, UK
2005-2007, Assistant professor, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
July 2007-Dec 2011, Associate professor Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
January 2012- Tenured Associate professor Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Awards and Honors
2002, Novo PhD Plus Prize
2007, Steno fellowship
2010, Sapere aude Research Group Leader
2012, Adjunct Faculty at NIBGE/PIEAS (Pakistan)

Grants – as main applicant (excl. internal and industrial PhD stipends)
Alfred Benzon's Fond; Danish Council for Independent Research, Medical Sciences; Danish Council for Independent Research, Natural Sciences; Lundbeck Foundation; Novo Nordisk Foundation

Grants – as co-applicant
Copenhagen 2016, University of Copenhagen;

Supervision
- 2013 supervised 6 MSc students, 2 PhD students and 4 postdoctoral fellows.

Reviewer activities
Referee at international journals including the EMBO Journal, Protein Science and FEBS Journal.  Reviewer of academic proposals for international foundations. Member of internal and external MSc and PhD assessment committees.