I am working as a researcher at K.G. Jebsen-senter for genetisk epidemiologi, NTNU, Norway. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is my key phenotype of interest. Using large population-based data sets including Helseundersøkelsen i Trøndelag (HUNT) and UK biobank, I have recently explored and published studies investigating the genetic and causal risk factors involved in the onset of CKD. Using the longitudinal data from >300,000 subjects, I am currently enthusiastic to explore the novel genetic and causal risk factors involved in the progression of CKD. Investigating the distinct genetic and clinical risk factors for disease progression using sufficiently large longitudinal data is the need of the hour. Such investigation is not only crucial to better understand the underlying disease mechanisms but also to revolutionize the current treatment practices for chronic diseases including CKD, diabetes, and CVD. To do this research I have established strong collaborations with Mendelian Randomization experts from the University of Bristol, UK and kidney disease experts from the Chronic Kidney Disease Genetic Consortium (CKDGen) team. With these experts, I have already been trained for cutting-edge research approaches including Mendelian Randomization, genome-wide association analysis, gene-environment interaction analysis, and risk analysis. My future research interest includes the use of omics data to better understand health and disease conditions. 

Early achievements

I am a female scientist from Pakistan. I was awarded a Gold-medal in my M.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Punjab, Pakistan’s top-ranked university. Whilst working as a Lecturer at the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, a prestigious Engineering University in Pakistan, I completed my M.Phil degree in Chemistry with distinction. I secured 3 PhD scholarships in less than a year (one from the UK and two from New Zealand) and chose to undertake my PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Otago, New Zealand’s second-highest ranked University. My passion for working with human health and disease was the key motivation behind my PhD thesis which focused on the relationship of gout and dyslipidemia. In 2015, I completed my PhD with 5 publications, all as first author.

After PhD, I worked as an Assistant Professor (permanent position) in Pakistan. However, my passion for research quickly led me to take up a Postdoctoral role in Genetic Epidemiology where I worked in a shared position between the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU, Norway) and the University of Bristol (UK) between April 2017 and September 2021. At the K.G. Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology (NTNU) I was chosen as “Young Scientist of the Month” in February 2022.

I recently obtain funding from Felles forskningsutvalg (FFU) Joint Research Committee Grant (2021) to investigate the genetics of CKD progression. I have also obtained an RSO PhD position funding from NTNU to investigate the causal risk factors for CKD progression.

Other Scientific Contributions

I recently worked as a guest editor for Frontiers in Genetics and published an editorial entitled Multi-Omics Study in Revealing Underlying Pathogenesis of Complex Diseases: A Translational Perspective